Stargate Millennium: Dagger
by StargateMillennium
Summary: A new spin off: Politics surrounding the stargate has always been a dastardly thing but politics has an uncanny ability to warp what is and isn't in the minds of people. One political group accuses the SGC of crimes against the galaxy and will stop at nothing to tear down the SGC, starting with the Millennium Expedition.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the first two parter. Please review and tell me what you think. I'm still trying to fight the old habit of not responding to reviews (bugger me on that bit). Constructive criticisms are always appreciated. Most of all, enjoy.**

**-.-**

Previously on Stargate Millennium

From the episode _Cloak_: While going through the city's computers, Doctor Kara Osborn discovers information involving research into curing the Asgard's genetic problems and a machine used to manipulate DNA to implement it. Though the research was never completed, it could still provide valuable medical information and she embarked on a quest to find it along with three men: Porter, Casanova, and Greer.

Meanwhile, the body of Jared Smith was founded murdered and Wolf Pack was assigned to find the killer. After investigating the scene, they determine that the murder weapon was a Goa'uld hand device and an autopsy reveals that Smith had a symbiote inside of him. With these new revelations, General William Mercer calls Major Terra Nova to his office to give some files that may help her investigation. Mercer reveals that as the governments of more and more countries became aware of the stargate, more and more politics became involved. Eventually a political group formed that accused the SGC of committing crimes against the galaxy. However, their voices were ignored and a splinter group formed to pursue their goals: the Stargate Council. The Council began using any means necessary, even killing off duty SG personnel to send their message. Mercer suspects this group of the murder because of their recent access to Goa'uld technology. Nova was about to read the files the General gave her when two Council soldiers attempted to assassinate her before she could read what was in those files. However, Nova manages to fight them off and even capture one alive.

The files reveal the SGC sought the Tok'ra for equipment to help monitor the actions of the SG Council. A deal was made with the Tok'ra and Jared Smith was implanted so he could not only infiltrate the Council but use Tok'ra technology to spy on them. However, it does not reveal what the Tok'ra got in return.

Meanwhile, Osborn's search for the Asgard medical research has taken her to one of the unexplored arms of the city. She finds the machine she was looking for but it taken hostage by Porter, Casanova, and Greer, who reveal they are part of the Council and plan on taking down the SGC one piece at a time. They also reveal that they were able to get their hands on a data crystal that once belonged to the Goa'uld scientist Nirrti and it held the blueprints for rearranging DNA to create a more advanced human. They had joined Osborn's search for the machine because they had no way of implementing the genetic changes the crystal specified…until now. Greer uses the machine and gains incredible regenerative abilities, demonstrated when he had Casanova use a shotgun to blow the top of his head off merely to grow it back right before Osborn's eyes. However, both Greer and Osborn know that the unstable genetic coding means that Greer will soon die as a result. Greer orders all Council members that infiltrated the Millennium Expedition to sneak out in the middle of the night and meet at their coordinates.

Going through Smith's belongings, Nova finds several images of Council infiltrators at specific locations in the city. Nova quickly finds that each location had been planted with semtex. They attempt to evacuate the areas surrounding the bombs but are too late. The bombs detonate.

-.-

The room dimmed as the lights were, one by one, turned off. Soon, the only light left was the flashlight mounted on the camcorder pointed at the wall. Hundreds of people were watching as a single man stepped in front of the camera.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the IOA," he greeted. "My name if Doctor Bryan Greer of the Millennium Expedition. Several decades ago, a mysterious alien artifact was discovered in a dig near Giza. When it was discovered that this alien artifact possessed the ability to send people to other planets, an organization was founded with the mandate of exploring the galaxy and acquiring alien technology: the SGC.

In the time the SGC has operated the stargate, they have overthrown a stable galactic government in the Milky Way, plunging it into an era of chaos. They have started a civil war in Pegasus that cost the lives of millions and millions more as they try to clean up after themselves with the Asurans. They have committed some of the worst war crimes in Earth's history, yet you, people of the IOA, choose to look the other way. They claim they've been protecting Earth from malicious aliens that seek to conquer us while exploring the galaxy and finding allies; that is pure propaganda. Ignorant people continue to support the SGC, believing the crap they feed us. But we see through their lies; we see that they've been conquering the galaxy for Earth. But no more. We aren't fooled by their falsified mission reports or their staged displays of 'heroism'; we aren't fooled by their propaganda or by the blind tools that do their preaching. We pray that you open your eyes and realize how badly you've been deceived. If the IOA won't stop them, the Stargate Council will; and we will start with the Millennium Expedition."

STARGATE

MILLENNIUM

Six bombs. Six bombs had detonated in the city of Millennium. Nova didn't know the status of the main infirmary but it was caught in the blast so there was a good chance it was unusable at the moment. Being a city, there were plenty of hospitals they could use instead. Even from there, staring out the window, she could smell the ash and smoke. It practically clogged her throat and burned her lungs, like a thousand tiny ants floating in the air. The black clouds billowed into the sky, at least what would be the sky. The buildings that had been caught in the blast looked like they had been infected with something, chunks of black spots with masses of debris hanging off wires. Several floors were completely blown away, nothing but the supports left holding them up. What the explosion didn't damage, flying and falling debris did.

Nova glanced back at the hospital bed, where a nurse was treating Corin for several burns. Corin gave Nova a thankful nod, knowing she saved him from anything worse.

"Major!" voice called out. Terra Nova turned around to see Christopher Umar push past several other patients and into the room. His hard work was obvious from his dripping sweat against his dark skin. Still, he didn't seem to be affected by it at all.

"I heard you were caught in the explosion, ma'am," he said, remaining calm and composed. But, Nova could still hear the tension hidden in his voice. "They said they found two bodies near the barracks and I got worried it was you two."

"It was likely Shire and a guard on duty," Nova said, her fist squeezing with anger at the thought. Shire had attacked her in an attempt to slow her down so she would get caught in the bomb blast. The guard sacrificed himself so that she and Corin could make it out. "You're team make it out?" Umar gave a thankful nod at that.

"The Dusk Riders have already been sent back in looking for survivors," he explained. "General Mercer's called me back. With Donavan injured-"

"What happened to Donavan?" Corin immediately asked when he heard this. Nova was equally curious, staring at Commander Umar for answers. Donavan with the technician in charge of stargate operations and was often General Mercer's adjutant, informing him of all situations. Umar was second in command so he only reacts to those situations with Mercer.

"Donavan's gone into surgery," Umar said. "There's shrapnel lodged in his spine. I need to see General Mercer and coordinate the relief efforts."

"Tell the General I'm still waiting for his permission to look for my team," Nova insisted. Umar could only nod sympathetically as he quickly left the room, leaving Nova to stare across the ruined city of Millennium.

-.-

Major Jennifer Hailey wished she could wear some sort of mask as she tread through the halls of another empty building. The walls were charred and a fine cloud of dust floated in the air. The ceiling seemed to have fallen apart, the power conduits severing and dangling down from the ceiling like vines. It was supposedly safe but she still felt a burst of fear and adrenaline every time she heard a creak from the floor, imagining the building just collapsing from the strain. Behind her, several other soldiers carried flashlights as they scanned each room for any survivors. Even with the light pouring through the shattered windows, they still used the lights to scan every corner. The doors to some of the rooms had to be pried open, the controls that would do so damaged beyond repair. Other rooms had gaping holes in them that allowed personnel to walk in.

"Martin!" she shouted when she recognized the figure lying slouched against the wall. She rushed up to him, about the check his pulse but he let out a pained groan before looking at her. He obviously knew she was there but was too dazed to react. Hailey put down her flashlight so she could clap her hands right in front of his face. The suddenly sound made Martin jump awake. He gave a sigh as he took in the devastated surroundings.

"You ok?" Hailey asked, moving several pieces of debris from him.

"Yeah, just stubbed my toe," Martin chuckled optimistically. "Probably hit my head too." He slowly got to his feet, still looking around. "It's a little warm in here; I think I'm going to find a window or something." He began to hobble toward an open window where hoped he could get a breath a fresh air.

"Wait a minute," Hailey called out, grabbing his shoulder. Martin was about to ask her what it was but a glance down at his stomach told him everything.

"Gah, bugger," he muttered in frustration as his eyes fell upon the twisted piece of metal lodged that had been plunged into his waist.

-.-

Osborn glanced from the gunwoman who still had the barrel of the gun pressed against her back to Greer. Osborn was silently debating in her head whether or not to let Greer just charge in and lead the assault. With his regenerative powers, he would unstoppable for several hours. But, the cost of constantly healing would massive. When an animal has to regrow a limb, it takes a massive toll on the body. So, every wound Greer takes would bring him one step closer to death as his body struggles to continue to heal him. She knew that eventually his body would just shut down, his organs just failing, and he would fall dead if he sustained enough injuries. But, Greer's goal wasn't to survive but to use his powers to take the city. Osborn had to find a way to distract him.

"Why the recording?" she asked him as Greer picked up a P90. "We can't contact the IOA or Earth. How do you intend on getting the message back to Earth? We don't have any ways to contact the closes the galaxy, let alone the Milky Way."

"Neither do we," Greer chuckled as he holstered a pistol.

"Then what's the point?" Kara watched Greer' waiting for a response or, at the very least, a reaction. That was when it occurred to her. "You don't have a way _yet_. It's hidden in the city somewhere, isn't it?"

"No, it's actually on what used to be a major Furling city," Greer sneered, putting on a vest of equipment. "If we're right, the city should still have an active power source we could use to dial Earth. Even if it is for a brief second, we can at least get the video sent through."

"What about the people in the hall?" Osborn asked, seeing the opportunity to gather as much information as possible. She knew Greer wanted her to join them and the only chance of that was for her to trust him. If she could get him to start a conversation with her, she might be able find out something useful. "They can't all be from the expedition."

"With the SGC abusing its need for secrecy, the Director needed help," Greer said. "He told us what the SGC's really been up to and was able to get us all our equipment so we can stop them. They're tasked with exploring the galaxy and instead they go around and wiping out anyone they don't like." Osborn felt like an anvil had been dropped on her head. She stared at Greer, barely able to stutter her disbelief.

"So, a politician that knows about the SGC finds a bunch of gullible twats to help him take over."

"Gullible," the woman behind Osborn scoffed. "Watch the pot call the kettle black. You're the one believing everything they tell you."

"You're smarter than this, Kara," Greer insisted, kneeling in front of Osborn, who simply shook her head.

"I always wondered what politics would do with the stargate; I guess I just found out. You know, I have a friend that always said 'the reason there's so many problems in the world is because no one ever stops to ask whether or not they're wrong.' Have you ever stopped to consider whether or not what you believe is wrong?"

Greer looked at Osborn in disappointment before glancing at the woman behind her, shifting his focus before saying, "Connie, keep an eye on her. I'm going to make sure the next two waves are ready."

"I got it," Constance said with a hidden smile.

"Greer," Porter shouted from the machine, wiping off his hands and disconnecting his computer. "The machines fried, no way to fix it. We still might be able to pull some data off its crystals though."

"Then do it," Greer said hurriedly as he quickly left the room. As he stepped out into the hall, he glanced at the group of workers at the side as they hurriedly rushed out of a section of the floor they had taped off.

"We're ready!" one of them yelled as the nearby machine powered. A bright beam of light was cast over the ground and, in an instant, a squad of men materialized as the Asgard transport beam reconstructed their bodies and equipment. Greer smiled as the new arrival quickly cleared the area for more people.

-.-

The General had to be grateful for how durable the Ancients made the stargate. The ones in the Milky Way were tough enough to survive a direct hit from a meteorite. One of them lasted over half an hour against a naquadah enhanced explosion. The Caldwell 70 stargate models were created after Milky Way but before Pegasus, making them even more durable than the ones he remembered. These bombs were not strong enough to scratch the gate, but they did blow out the wall behind it. The intricate glass design had been shattered by the bomb, exposing the back of the gate to the outside. The control room was covered in a fine layer of dust. Chunks of metal laid strewn across the floor, one of which had landed right on the DHD, breaking several of the buttons while throwing the rest on the ground. The screens that usually showed the status of the stargate struggled to show anything at all. The diagrams were blurred and often streaked with random color as static rolled across them. The conference room was just as damaged, pieces of metal lodged into the table and several chairs, many of which had fallen over. Mercer was inside his office. Unlike the control room or the conference room, the office was protected by a wall and window. The glass may have shattered and the room may now have been filled with dust but it was, for the most part, untouched. The General was sitting behind his desk, examining a gold gauntlet that he held in his hand.

Mercer remembered before the explosion, he managed to press the red gem atop the metal glove, activating a shield around himself. While the shield protected him from the pressure wave, the slower moving shrapnel managed to get through. One of which had scraped right across the top of his left hand, shredding a hole in the glove he was wearing and destroying the gem beneath. His personal shield was gone but, at the very least, he still had the basic abilities of the Goa'uld kara kesh.

A knock on his door gave him enough warning to slide the gauntlet off his hand and hide it in his desk.

"Enter," he announced, sitting back in his chair. The door hissed open as Commander Umar and Major Nova walked in. Nova had finally gotten herself cleaned up. The soot and dirt had been washed off her face and her hair was a lot neater.

"You called, General?" Umar asked as he stepped in.

"General, Doctor Chen is still MIA," Nova reminded urgently. "Request permission to join the search teams."

Mercer calmly put his hand up, ordering them both to be silent.

"Commander Umar is the second in command and Major Nova is the military commander," Mercer said. "At the moment, I need both of you to assist in getting the situation under control."

"All things considering, it's a lot more controlled than I thought it would be to begin with," Umar remarked. He had expected there to be crowds of panicked and stampeding people. Instead, everyone seemed to be rather calm and collected. If this kept up, he wouldn't be surprised to everything return to normal by the end of the week. Mercer understood what Umar was saying and slid a burnt crystal across the table to make his point.

"When packing for the expedition, we used Asgard transporters to dematerialize supplies and save them as data on crystals such as these," Mercer explained gravely. "It not only served as excellent means of transporting the supplies but also an excellent way to store equipment and preserve food. Meals do not risk expiring when it exist as data on a crystal. It is also easier to look and retrieve items from storage when it is stored on crystals, only needed to be beamed out rather than rummaging through an entire box."

"How many did we lose?" Nova asked worriedly, suddenly realizing that if the data crystal is irreparably damaged, then everything on it would be lost.

"A little under half. Our greenhouses also took a hit. Our food supplies have been cut in half and the food being grown for the coming months are gone. Even if we do manage to pull through, all the resources we gathered these past few months must be replaced. I was also hoping to take care of those responsible."

Nova hung her head when she heard this. They all knew the Council was the one responsible for this and she was in charge of seeking them out. She felt like this happened because of her and her inability to stop them.

"General," she spoke up, trying some way to make up for her failure. "This attack is the first strike of a coup d'état that the SG Council is planning." Mercer folded his hands in front of him, troubled by this statement. Umar remembered discussing this when they were investigating the data crystal they found hidden in Smith's quarters. They knew the SG Council was planning on attacking Atlantis and the SGC but couldn't because of the immediate response by the world's unified military. By attacking Millennium, they were not at risk.

"We should have all military personnel not assisting with the searches to stand ready," Umar advised.

"And where do you suggest we station them?" Mercer asked. "Without knowing the direction of the attack, we do not know how to repel it. If we were to assume that the people who disappeared before the bomb went off are members of the Council, then they will have a very difficult time taking this city; they would severely outnumbered."

"What if they managed to get more people?" Nova asked, eyeing the burnt data crystal. "If they use the Asgard transporters to beam squads of people into these crystals, they could sneak them in in their pockets and just beam them back out." Umar felt a chill go down his spine when he heard this, realizing that their problems just got a whole lot worse, stating what they were all thinking but did not want to say.

"If that's the case, we could be dealing with an army."

Before more could be said, Mercer heard his radio crackle to life. The General listened as a panicked voice said, "General, according to the computers, there's a tram inbound from one of the city arms to central city."

"I thought all trams going in and out of central were shut down."

"They were!"

Mercer looked at his two ranking officers. The members of the expedition were scattered and unprepared. Everyone was either injured, busy treating the injured, busy freeing the injured, or busy looking for more injured. The few people that were not doing any of that were checking the structural integrity of the city, making sure that it would not just fall apart in the middle of space. While the explosions themselves were devastating, the flying and falling debris were just as bad, trapping and injuring people while isolating them from help. Their computers were damaged so monitoring the status of everyone on the station was difficult if not impossible. An attack could not possibly come at a worse time.

After the battles Atlantis had gone through, the expedition had been prepared for alien attack. Everyone expected the first attack to come from the outside, some hostile alien race that would converge on the city in the hopes of taking it. No one expected part of the expedition would try to take the entire city.

-.-

The attacks may have occurred on the surface but every part of the city had been affected, all the way down to the lower levels. Even in the tram stations, the lights had all been blown out, several pieces of the ceiling fallen to the ground. People unable to evacuate may have fled into the tram network in a desperate attempt to escape and gotten trapped somewhere. Corin was too banged up to do any serious work but he could at least help search for survivors. Even the holographic line that usually floated in front of the tracks was flickering. But, overall, the tram stations were in a lot better shape than the rest of the city.

Corin instinctively put his hand on a scratch on the side of his face as he thought about injured people limping down here in a desperate attempt to get away from the carnage above.

"We better spread out," he announced, looking around. Corin's used the trams to get around the city enough times to know even one station can be like a maze. Back in the days when the city was inhabited by the Alliance, it would've been used to ferry hundreds of people. One station had access to at least fifteen tram lines and hundreds of stores.

They had just begun to spread out and look around when a gentle hum echoed down the tunnel. A silver blur sped into the tunnel, slowing down until the tram came to a stop. Everyone looked up in confusion as the doors slid open and over a dozen armed men filed out, aiming their guns at the group. Their identities were all disguised but it was obvious they were not part of the expedition.

"Attentions assholes," the one in the front said loudly as he casually walked in, his gun aimed straight at Corin. The man's identity was hidden by a black motocross helmet which was complimented by his gray long coat. All the Council soldiers had concealed their identities somehow. One wore a hooded jacket and used a gas mask to cover his face while his hood covered the rest of his head. Another had his hood up but used a bandana to conceal his face.

Everyone had frozen, unsure how to react as the other Council soldiers surrounded the search party. They all slowly raised their hands in the air as the men surrounded men. If the Council was going to take the city, they needed as many people as they could to simply give up and this was a good start. Several of them were unloading crates of weapons off the tram.

"All of you have blindly believed the stories perpetuated by the SGC. Whether you are that stupid or eat their bull crap and taste caviar is still a mystery. Luckily, we can forgive ignorance."

There was a loud click as the man felt a barrel pressed against the back of his head.

"Unfortunately," Chen said, slowly backing to put distance between his target and his gun. "I gave up on forgiving a long time ago." Corin gawked in surprise, joy spreading across his face.

"Steven! How'd you?"

"I fell down a stairwell," Chen growled, putting a good five feet between him and the man he was holding the gun against. "A wounded security guard let me have this before he died. He was someone I knew since his patrols often took him by my lab, someone I said hi to when we bumped into each other. I don't know what pisses me off more: seeing him the way he was or that someone somewhere was celebrating about it."

Some might've considered Chen's sudden appearance to be a hindrance, but Umar knew he could use all the help he could get. He peaked around the corner of the staircase that led into the station. He could feel Jennifer Hailey right behind him with a squad of marines, ready for action.

"There's too many civilians," Umar muttered. He counted at least a dozen people who had gone down there simply to search for survivors. If a firefight broke out, they would be caught in the crossfire. There was only one solution.

Chen still had his pistol trained on target when he saw something clatter down the stairs. He leaned sideways to take a look at what it was, barely getting the chance to say "Aw, crap" and turning around before the flashbang exploded in a brilliant flash of light, smoke filling the room as everyone else fell to the floor in pain. Chen was the only one who had managed to turn away and cover his ears, minimizing the effects of the explosion. Immediately, Umar, Hailey, and the squad of marines charged in.

Whatever fragile peace that existed in the room was immediately shattered as the soldiers quickly pushed all the civilians to the ground and trained their guns on the Council soldiers, demanding surrender. Chen scrambled out of the way, knowing that any bullets that miss could always hit him. Corin fell to the ground and covered his head. If chaos was to break out, at least the soldiers don't risk mistaking him for an enemy. That's when the first gunshot rang in the air. Coring didn't know who fired it but knew that it was immediately followed by over a dozen more, each shot ripping through the air. It felt like the whole room was shaking as the thunder of gunshots rumbled his ears. People got up from the floor and ran, getting caught in the storm of bullets flying in every direction. There was no cover for anyone either except for a few chairs that were not bulletproof. The columns may have provided cover but only so many people could crowd behind one. Clouds of dust were thrown from the regions where the bullets landed, the tiles on the walls falling apart from the carnage. Even Chen had joined the fray, firing his pistol from the back corner, hoping no one would notice him since he had absolutely no cover.

The room was now covered in a thick layer of smoke and dust from the fighting. All that could be seen were the muzzle flashes of the guns and orange bolt of a single staff weapon that a Council soldier had brought along.

Chen's eyes widened in panic when he heard the click of an empty chamber. He was out of ammo. Everyone was running out of ammunition. In the first few moments of the firefight, they had expended quite a few rounds firing blindly as they attempted to find cover. They began grabbing guns off fallen comrades and enemies in a desperate attempt to continue fighting. Chen rushed forward to grab a shotgun lying on the ground but an enemy soldier was reaching for it to. Chen knew that the motorcycle helmet would make it unadvisable to punch the face so he immediately began landing blows against the man's stomach and chest. A nearby Council soldiers saw Chen and took aim but Chen had picked up the shotgun and smashed his enemy's face with its stock before joining the fray once again.

The Millennium security force was quickly gaining an upper hand as the number of Council soldiers began dwindling. Corin could hear the chaos dying away. When he looked up, he saw that there were far fewer Council soldiers left standing and the rest of them were retreating into the rest of the tram station. That's when the call came in.

"Commander Umar, what's the situation?"

"Enemy forces are withdrawing to the rest of the tram station but we're still not done yet," Umar reported through the radio as a shotgun blast blew away a chunk of the chair he was hiding behind.

"Commander, another tram has arrived as station 4D. Leave a small number of men to finish up there and direct the rest of them to that station."

"Can't the Spartans deal with the second tram? They're a military team."

"The second tram already arrived several minutes ago; this is the third."

Umar growled in frustration, not wanting to leave any of his troops.

"Hey, Chen," he called as he watched several of his troops pursue the enemy into the station. Umar didn't like having civilians join a firefight but Nova always spoke highly of Chen's abilities in combat. "I've been called to another part of the city," he explained once Chen had jogged over. Seeing the fighting subside, Corin picked himself up from the ground and walked up to them, curious to see what they were talking about. "We're spread out real thin and I need every person I can get. I need you and Corin to help the men here; you think you can handle it."

"Sure," Chen scoffed in annoyance. "Like, I nearly got blown up just a few minutes, I fell down an entire stairwell, and now I'm back in the frontlines and paired up with my team's second worst fighter, but sure we can handle it."

Umar was satisfied with that answer as he gestured to Hailey and at least a dozen of the nearby men to join him as they all rushed back up the stairs. Corin glanced at Chen, wondering about the remark he made.

"You really think I'm the team's second worst fighter?" Corin asked in surprise.

"Sorry, I was being nice. You're _definitely_ the worst."

Just as that sentence left Chen's mouth, a cry of 'watch out!' rang through the air as a fist clobbered Chen across the back of the head, sending him stumbling forwards.

"You were saying?" Corin asked with a slight hint of amusement. He glanced beside him to see a single large Council soldier standing beside him, his face was concealed by a balaclava but his thick muscular arms were clearly able to do some considerable damage.

The retreat had given the Council soldiers time to regroup and push back as the two sides continued the fight.

-.-

Mercer stared at the line of caskets that lay in front of the stargate. Some of the bodies in them weren't even in one piece. A gentle wind from the artificial atmosphere blew in through the missing back wall and over the caskets. The General wanted to get the chance to mourn but he had a battle to lead. Central City was connected to the arms of the stations via almost a hundred trams and the Council was sending wave after wave through the tram network on random tram lines. Every time they sent a squad of soldiers to deal with one wave, they get word that another wave had arrived at another station. Technicians had to work in their barely working computers in the control room in a desperate attempt to relay information and orders to the troops to appropriately respond to each attack. If this kept up, he was going to have to order soldiers to stop searching for survivors in order to fight off the attackers. They were about to completely overrun. He could hear all the technicians yelling orders through the radios.

"Team three, once that station is secure, head over to station A6. Another tram has arrived."

"War Hawks, a strike team is leaving station D7. Move in to intercept."

"Search and rescue teams have been taken hostage at station B8. Commander Umar, you need to move in and secure the station."

Occasionally, Mercer would hear an explosion in the distance as someone tries to use a grenade. While he remained calm and composed, many people instinctively jumped and dove for cover at the sound, still traumatized from the explosion earlier.

He was getting far too old for this. He walked up to the shattered office window and looked across the gate room. It was then a familiar individual caught his eye. Mercer hurried out of his office to confront the person, eager to check up on his progress.

"Donavan," Mercer called out as he hurried down the stairs. Donavan looked up at Mercer proudly with a slight grin.

"General," he said as Mercer reached the bottom and walked up to him. "I'm ready to get back to work." Mercer gave a slight chuckle, appreciative that Donavan was so eager to make the situation easier.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that," was the General's reply. "Not in your condition." Mercer turned around, wanting to just leave it at that.

"General!" Donavan protested. "This entire expedition, have I not done everything you asked, kept track and recorded every detail of the station and every situation without any question or complaint."

"You have," Mercer said flatly.

"Then _please_ let me work," Donavan pleaded. "I am asking you this favor just this once." Mercer fell silent at Donavan's request. The General looked at the broken computer station where Donavan used to work. They were spread thin and were desperate for any sort of man power.

"Once this situation is over, I want you to go back to the infirmary for a proper evaluation," he finally ordered. Donavan smiled gratefully. He needed a distraction, anything to get his mind off his current condition. The thought of it was eating at him from the inside and he needed a way to stop. Mercer gave a defeated sigh and walked back up the stairs. Donavan could only watch, setting his hands on the rims of the wheels on his wheelchair. He gave a gentle push and rolled off toward the nearest ark. He couldn't just roll himself up the stairs. In fact, after today, there were a lot of things he couldn't do that regular people could. He once could stand at their level and now he has been forcefully shrunk down, less than who he used to be or anyone else.

Donavan shook it off. He couldn't think that way. He had to think of something else. All he needed to do was find an ark, roll to his old station, and begin monitoring the status of the city. He had to stop thinking of the chairs he was now forever confined to.

-.-

Mercer had barely returned to his office when another knock at the door caught his attention.

"Come in."

His office doors hissed open, letting Major Nova walk in with a small squad of soldiers right behind her. Nova cradled an AA-12 automatic shotgun in her hands. The other soldiers carried their own arsenal of weapons, ready and waiting for orders.

"You called, sir?" Nova asked, walking into the room. She had been caught right in the middle of an explosion and yet maintained her composure.

"First off, I thought you'd like to know that Doctor Chen has been found; he is alive and well."

Nova's eyes widened in surprise and relief. She knew Chen had been near one of the bombs when it went off but, until now, she didn't know if he had survived. She smiled, knowing that she could not let her composure falter in the middle of a battle.

"I assume that isn't what you called me in for though," Nova said. She may not have acted like it but Mercer could tell how relieved she was to hear that Chen was ok.

"These attacks have caught us completely off guard and we are short on manpower," Mercer said slowly, folding his hands in front of him. "If we're going to survive, we're going to call upon every single resource we discovered from using the stargate."

"If you have any suggestions I'm more than eager to listen," Nova replied. She had already been through several fights in the city and could not keep running from station to station. She also knew that her and her squad being here meant there was one less squad out in the field fighting. Mercer gestured toward a crate sitting beside his desk. Nova walked over and opened the crate, taking out a small silver orb with a red dot on one side.

"We got these through all alliance with the Tok'ra," Mercer explained. "We call them tacs."

"I get the feeling that's short of something else."

"Tacluchnatagamuntoron."

Nova glanced at Mercer, not wanting to even try pronouncing that. The General simply smiled and repeated, "Tacs." Nova set the orb back in the crate and took out what looked like a black obsidian remote as Mercer explained. "These are remote energy weapons that can be programmed to fire on moving sources of heat. If we position these at certain tram stations, we can better deal with these attacks. We'll be handing these out to defense teams so they can be used help defend certain tram stations." Nova set the remote back in the case and closed it with a satisfied nod. She would take anything that will help them get through this.

-.-

Doctor Kauffman glanced at the body one last time before zipping up the body bag. The explosion had blasted the man's head clean off and several personnel were still searching for it. Several pipes had burst open from the explosion and water was flowing down the shattered window to his left. This was someone's personal quarters. Only part of the bed still remained, the other half completely missing. The shelf of pictures from when he was on Earth had all been knocked down, the glass scattered across the floor. The victim was likely taking a nap when the bombs went off. The man went to bed and never got a chance to wake up.

"Doctor Kauffman," Isaac McFree called out, rushing into the room. "We found it. Was blown four floors up." McFree handed the bag to Kauffmann, who simply gave McFree and aggravated glare.

"_Danke, arsch_loch" Kauffman said angrily. "And should your head ever have the misfortune of being detached from the body, hopefully _it_ is treated with more respect!" McFree paled when he realized how angry Doctor Kauffman was. In situations like this, the proper procedure was to use two body bags, not a body bag and a random sack.

"Doctor, I didn't mean any disrespect!" Mcfree protested, running to keep up with Kauffman. The German doctor looked out the shattered window and across the devastated city before giving a sigh.

"It's been a stressful day for all of us," he said, wiping away a bead of sweat on his forehead. McFree and Kauffman both jumped in surprise as gunfire echoed from across the city. They both knew the sound meant another fight had broken out. They were still busy finding and rescuing survivors and they were under attack at the same time.

-.-

Chen aimed his pistol and pulled the trigger but only a click came out the gun. He had run out of ammo again. His only saving grace was that the two people charging at him didn't have any ammo either, leaving him to fight them the old fashioned way. He prayed that one of the other soldiers would notice and help him but they were all busy with their own battles. Chen was going to have to fight these two on his own. He ducked and dodged around the machete being swung at his face as the other used a metal rod to try to club him. Chen dodged the attacks, waiting for the right moment before lunging forward, landing a powerful blow on both their faces. They both fell to the ground, dropping their weapons with a clank. He immediately grabbed the machete, slicing the blade through its original wielder. Chen's other opponent grabbed the metal rod that lay on the ground, swinging it like a baseball bat. Steven kicked the other man's legs out from under him, sending the attacker falling forward. All Chen had to do was stoop down and place the machete directly under him, letting the attacker fall onto its blade.

Chen then fell to his hands and knees, panting in utter exhaustion. He didn't know how many fights they had gotten into by this time. They had become so desperate for more men that civilians that were willing to fight had joined them.

"This is the control room. Captain Markov, has your squad finished cleaning up down there?"

"We just finished."

"Good. Head up to the control room; we've got new equipment to help you."

"Roger that. We're also going to need more ammo."

"We'll have a crate waiting for you."

Captain Markov faced his tired and weary squad, yelling "Come on!" They all headed out of the station again, Chen rushing to keep up. His whole body was so sore that it had become numb. He knew his legs were running but he couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet. He imagined everyone was feeling that way. Each new tram brought fresh soldiers for the squads to fight and they were all getting tired.

-.-

"Hurry it up!" Nova called out urgently as she placed one of the tacs on the edge of a bench, aiming the red dot at the tunnel where the tram would come out. Several of her men were following suit, hiding the tacs in places that were hard to shoot or hard to notice. The lights in the entire station were out so they had to rely on flashlights. This should make it especially difficult to notice these tiny alien weapons. This was the second station where they were setting up tacs. She glanced down the dark tunnel where the tram would exit, noticing two pairs of lights in the blackness.

"Trams coming!" she yelled, heading for cover in what would be a convenience store. If they didn't finish up quickly a firefight will break out. There at least ten tacs ready and aimed at the tram. Nova took out her obsidian remote as her squad quickly finished setting the machines up and rushed to join her. They all took cover behind the door frame, peeking out the windows to see what will happen. In the darkness of the store, they were next to impossible to see. Nova prepared the remote, watching as the tram came to a stop.

The doors all slid open, revealing at least two dozen armed men riding inside. Terra couldn't recognize any of them because of all the ways they had concealed their faces. She waited and watched as they filed out of the tram, slowly clearing the station. If she activated the tacs too soon, they might figure out what is happening. Just a few more moments. She smiled as most of the Council soldiers finally got off the train with crates of weapons and equipment. She flicked open the safety cover and pressed the button. There was a hum as all the tacs in the station came online and fired.

Orange bolts of energy streaked through the air like a sideways rain, ripping through the enemy soldiers. The first line toppled and fell over, the others looking around wildly for the source of the weapons fire. They didn't see any muzzle flashes, only thing orange bolts of energy flying out of the dark and right at them. Some of them fired desperately into the void, hoping to hit something. It was all for naught as the last of the Council soldiers fell over, the charred wounds in their body still crackling from the heat as silence fell upon the station once again. Nova almost pitied them; they had been effortlessly slaughtered. She understood why the Tok'ra would like these. If they ever needed to defend themselves, these tiny orbs could replace entire squads of soldiers.

"You think we got them all?" a soldier behind her asked. Nova stared at the bodies that now laid strewn on the ground before saying, "I think so."

The dead silence was enough to tell Nova that the fighting was over. She almost felt bad for the enemy soldiers, realizing how effortlessly they had been slaughtered. She walked out of the store and was about to walk away when the silence was again shattered. The tacs were firing again.

She whipped around to see the energy bolts aimed at a single man, who was struggling to get up. The rest of the squad instinctively aimed their weapons at the individual as he ripped off his hood and gas mask in an attempt to get fresh air, looking desperately around for his attacker. Nova fumbled to take out the remote in her vest pocket, ready to turn off all the tacs. If this was an injured survivor they should give him the chance to surrender. She was about to press the button to turn these remote weapons off when she realized something was wrong. This man had been caught in the first volley of weapons fire and it had taken her an additional several seconds to pull the remote out of her vest pocket while all the tacs were concentrating their fire on him. He should be dead.

"Major?" one of the soldiers asked, not sure what to do. The man had been completely riddled with wounds but still did not fall. Nova knew the human body was resilient, hearing stories of people taking up to thirty bullets in the chest and still be able to walk, but this was something else. The man aimed his UMP in the direction of one of the tacs and fired, the bullets flying through the air, most of them missing but a few hit their mark. The tac was blasted off the counter and onto the ground. He quickly reloaded his gun before aiming at the next one and firing again. Nova and her squad stared, dumbstruck by what they were seeing, as the mysterious man, taking his time to identify the location of each one, shot the tacs off their perch.

Everyone cocked their guns, no longer sure what they were up against as the man turned to look at Nova. He opened his mouth to cough up some blood. He had his hand cover his left eye as he smiled when he realized it was Nova standing in front of him.

"Hello again, Major," the man said, removing his hand to show that he eye was perfectly fine. "Pleasure to see you again." He leaned forwards and picked up another gun with his left hand. Nova realized that all the wounds in his body were gone. His shirt was still stained with blood and was riddled with holes along with his vest of equipment but the wounds beneath them had vanished.

Nova cocked her AA 12 when she realized who she was addressing.

"A lot of words come to mind," she said grimly. "But pleasure is not one of them, Doctor Greer."


	2. Chapter 2

General Mercer opened the file folder, examining the document inside, his eyes going down the paper line by line and image by image.

"General," a voice said, interrupting the old man at his thoughts. Mercer looked up, not sure who to expect but certainly was not expecting "Flight Lieutenant Charles Martin, reporting for duty."

"Lieutenant," Mercer said in surprise, closing the folder and putting it away in a drawer. "I was told you were injured." Martin gave a smile with a slight chuckle, patting the area of his waist where he had been impaled.

"It was just a scratch," Martin explained. "Barely remember what happened. Woke up and I was fixed and I'm ready to return to duty."

"You understand if I'm reluctant," Mercer said flatly. "You took the blast full force to the face and was impaled in the stomach. Many people are already traumatized from the blast, both mentally and physically. I am not going to send a wounded soldier out into combat."

"General, my friends are either dead or risking their lives so others don't die. I'm sitting in a bed watching people bleed to death, praying that an army of plastic-clad stormtroopers don't march in and start shooting, and you're telling me to sit back and do nothing?!"

"I'm not telling you; I am ordering you Lieutenant Martin," Mercer barked, his eyes narrowing in frustration. Martin groaned in frustration, turning around and exiting the office. He wanted to kick the wall in anger but that would require using muscles that were severed when he was impaled. Mercer glared as the Lieutenant walked out the door. The General watched as Martin examined the ruined control room. Donavan was trying to approach a computer console but a chair was in his way. Martin walked and reached to move the chair for him.

"Hey, I got this!" Donavan snapped angrily, forcing the chair back as if he wanted to move it the entire way himself.

"I was just trying to help!" Martin said defensively, shocked how angry Donavan got.

"I don't need your help!"

Everyone in the control room had turn to watch the commotion, not sure walk to make of it. Martin put his hands up in defeat, backing up slowly before turning and leaving. Mercer raised an eyebrow at the scene. Suddenly, something in the room caught his attention. He didn't see it, smell it, or hear it…he could feel it. He could feel the presence of the individual in his office.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?"

Mercer looked out of the corner of his eye, barely able to see the ominous silhouette of the man behind him. His eyes gave a single threatening flash before confronting the William Mercer.

"There's no need to be threatening, General."

"State your business, Tok'ra."

"I'm simply here to make an offer," the man said innocently, walking to the front of the table.

"If it wasn't for Tok'ra's arrangement with the Tau'ri, orak vu'lom wouldn't even be here. What do you have offer?"

"You act as though we do not care for these people. We share the same feelings as our hosts. We are offering to find the leader of this group, the man responsible, and taking him out."

Mercer folded his hands in front of him, taking the usual posture, as he considered the offer before him. Despite how good it sounded, the General had to decline.

"I appreciate your offer, but these are my people. Once I find the one in charge of this, he is mine."

-.-

Nova's finger stroked the trigger of her gun, her eyes meeting Greer's. The man had just survived a maelstrom of energy blasts and got up with minimal injury. It wasn't just a miracle; it should be impossible. Yet, here he was. The holes in his shirt and equipment were still there, as was the blood in his clothing, yet he still stood.

She thought about all the crazy things she's read about at the SGC. She's read about priests with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. She's read about an Ancient cube that can bring back the dead and make them nearly impervious to gunfire. She's read about insectoid robots capable of consuming all raw material and use it to replicate themselves. She's read about creatures that can suck the life out of a person through the palm of their hand. But, while she's read about beings with incredible regenerative abilities, the SGC has never encountered something such as this.

"Major, what's the plan?" one of the soldiers asked nervously. Nova glanced back at her men then at Greer, who now held a UMP submachine guns in each hand.

"Dupré, get the men out of here," Nova ordered. The second in command looked at her in protest but he could tell she was not wavering in her command. He handed her his AA-12, giving her a respectful nod.

"We're moving out to the next station."

"Yes, sir!"

Nova listened to the sound of heavy footfall as her men quickly left the station, leaving her with Greer. She held the two automatic shotguns, aiming them at Greer.

"Last time I saw you, you were going to help Doctor Osborn on some treasure hunt to find some Asgard research," Nova finally said, ending their silence. "I'm guessing you found what you were looking for."

"You could say that," Greer chuckled, stepping over the bodies of his dead men.

"I'm giving you this one opportunity to surrender," Nova warned, tightening her grip on her guns as she slowly walked toward a nearby column. "I'm giving you all an opportunity to surrender."

"We're not the bad guys here," Greer argued. "We're just whistleblowers setting things right."

"You're all murderers!"

"No one else was going to stand up to the SGC!"

"I'm not here to argue opinions here," Nova snapped. "I'm not here to argue about, politics, how we each see the world, or how we see the SGC. You have crimes to answer for."

"I'm not answering to anyone, least of all a bunch of failed copies," Greer growled. Nova paused for a moment, thinking the remark was just another belief they held of the SGC. But, it still didn't make sense.

"What are you talking about?" she demanded to know. Greer smiled, holding back an amused laugh.

"What? They didn't tell you? Aren't you in charge of the military division of this mess? And they didn't tell you why we're all out here?"

"We're out here because members of the Council are in the IOA, and they wanted a platform to launch an attack against the SGC," Nova stated. She didn't have to say this, she could've played dumb, but she had to find out what Greer knew. Greer's face stared at her in surprise. She was right; the Council was involved in the formation of the Millennium Expedition.

"I'll admit we had a hand in that, but we only helped the ball roll along. The guys in charge of the SGC were the ones who came up with the idea for the purpose of testing out their copies."

"You keep mentioning copies," Nova said calmly. "Copies of what?"

"Why don't you ask your General that?" Greer chuckled. "You never wondered why? Why are we out here? We are less likely to return to Earth than the Atlantis expedition. Why have we been sent all the way out here? Yeah, we're out here to find alien technology. But, the real reason they hauled us all the way out here was to test their copies. But, enough talk. Now, let's fight."

Nova knew what this meant. Their talks were over. The room erupted into chaos as the two opened fire, four muzzle flashes lighting up the dark tram station. Glass shattered and sprinkled over the ground as their missed shots tore apart the station, dust and debris spewing over the ground. Greer's body twitched violently as the shotgun rounds tore into him. Dual wielding firearms was not as easy as it seems and while Nova knew how to do it, Greer was simply spraying in her direction, the bullets missing and hitting the wall. Hers were meeting their mark, hitting him in the chest. Finally, he couldn't hang on any longer. The guns fell out of his hands as he toppled against the side of the tram. Nova knew that he would get up at any second; she had to find a way to put him down for good. She ran up to Greer, putting the barrels of her AA-12's against his head and firing. After firing a few rounds, she heard the familiar click out of both her weapons. It was a brutal tactic but she had to test something. She stepped back as the noise died away, staring at Greer's body, smoke rising from what should be the corpse. She watched as the grievous wounds immediately began to close, the damage she had inflicted vanishing as if it never happened.

Her hand flew to her pistol but she knew that it wouldn't help either. She could hear the tram he arrived in begin to leave but she had to think of another to stop him. The entire city was focused on fighting waves after wave of attacks; if Greer were to get by he could catch all the defense teams off guard and completely turn the tide of the battle. Nova had to fight Greer until she could come up with a way to stop him.

She threw aside one of her shotguns ejected the magazine of the other as Greer's hand shot to a nearby machete, sheathed on the body of his fallen soldier. He pulled the machete out and slashed at Nova with it. Greer smiled victoriously, expecting metal to slice through flesh and bone to land the killing blow. Nova had to disappoint him. His regenerated eyes widened in shock when he heard a clank as the machete hit the barrel of her gun. Even without bullets, the shotgun made a great bludgeon and she clubbed Greer across the back of the head with its stock. She didn't know how skilled Greer was in a fight. He could've just been a madman with weapon. He could've been trained or had experience like Chen. He could've been preparing for this moment his entire career at the SGC. She was going to find out. Greer took his first swing, a move that Nova quickly countered and rammed the stock of her gun against his jaw. A blow like this was powerful enough to dislocate it; it even did, she could hear it. Greer stumbled back, his hand rubbing his mouth as if he was fitting it back into place.

"Nice moves, but there's nothing you can do to stop me," he chuckled, as if he was having fun with this whole ordeal. Why wouldn't he? Even if he couldn't win he definitely couldn't lose and he knew this as he charged in again.

The sound of metal hitting metal was not as clean or as comfortable as it is in the movies. It reverberates though the air, the sound waves rippling across the skin while the vibrations from the clashing metal goes up your arm. Nova had to put up with each hit as she blocked each slash from the machete. Every opening she got, she rammed the stock or barrel of her gun against his face. A normal person would've been downed with each blow she delivered, their jaw dislocated or their skull fractured. But Greer took every hit as if it was nothing. For him, it was nothing. He could just heal every wound. She remembered a saying: "the winner a knife fight is the one who's bleeding the least." According to that saying, Greer would win by default. He could heal every wound she inflicts upon him while it would only take the slightest cut. She had to find another way to change the tides.

She tossed the gun at Greer, who slashed at it in surprise, not expecting it to be just thrown at him. He was so focused on the gun that when he looked up, Nova had already closed the distance, her knuckles landing against his jaw. He swung his machete at her again but felt his fingers hit her forearm. She pried the bladed weapon out of his hand and plunged it into his chest. Greer reached up to pull the machete out of him but his hands were shoved aside as Nova continued landing punches against his face. Greer managed to block a few blows but rest landed. Bruises on his faced formed then vanished like fog on a window.

She finally managed to knock Greer over with a kick to his ribs, thinking she had the upper hand. It took her a moment before she realized how big of a mistake she made. She dove behind a column as Greer grabbed an M16 off another dead soldier and opened fire, the bullets tearing into the structure she hid behind. This pause in the fight gave Greer enough time to finally remove the machete still in his chest. He eagerly got up and began walking forwards, spraying the entire area with bullets. He whipped around the column, expecting Nova to be right there, ready to fill her with lead. His eyes widened in shock when he realized she wasn't there. He couldn't figure out where she went until he felt a knife plunged into his back. He yelled in pain, turning around to face Nova, who was running away as fast as she could. He reached back to pull the knife out but, instead of a handle his hand grabbed a round metal object taped to it.

"Oh Crap," Greer muttered when he realized what was really going on. Nova jumped onto the tram tracks to take cover as the grenade taped against the knife exploded, smoke and debris being tossed over her head, the explosion sending a wave of pressure through the air, echoing through the halls, smoke filling the entire station. She peeked over the tracks to take a look at the carnage. She looked around, trying to find Greer. For a moment, it seemed like she won; Greer was nowhere to be seen. It was only then she saw a black figure through the smoke stand up.

He was a competent fighter. He didn't have the same prowess Chen had but he was still pretty good. Had this been a normal person, Nova would've either killed or subdued him a hundred times over by now. But with his newfound regenerative powers, he could not only hold his own but she just might lose to him.

"You know, that really hurt," Greer groaned, stepping out. His shirt had been shredded by the blast and his tactical vest was torn up so badly he just let it slide off. "You can keep this up all you like but you're not going to beat me." Nova clenched her teeth in frustration at this statement, silently agreeing. She couldn't beat him. As if to reiterate his statement, hum echoed from down the tunnel. It was another tram of reinforcements coming in. If Nova didn't get out now she was going to get overrun. Greer knew it too, jeering, "Looks like you're out of time!"

Nova glanced at the stairway out, considering to turn and run. If she did, Greer could easily gun her down. If she stayed there and let the troops come out, they would overwhelm her and gun her down anyways.

"Terra!" a voice called out. Nova realized two figures were standing on the stairs out: Corin Nevec and Steven Chen.

"Corin, shoot!" Chen yelled, firing his M16 at Greer, the bullets rattling his body but all damage would be superficial. Chen quickly glanced at Corin when he realized his friend wasn't shooting. "I said shoot!"

"I'm not good with a gun!"

Chen groaned in frustration as he continued hammering Greer with lead. Terra Nova saw the opportunity and took it, taking off for the stairs and the door that led away from the tram station. She was glad she saved the ammo in her pistol as she yanked it out and fired away at him too. It was just in time. The tram came in and slowed to a stop, its doors opening, a small army of men waiting inside. In moments, they would be in pursuit.

"Corin, cover her!" Chen yelled as Nova ascended the steps.

"How?!" Corin called out in disbelief, realizing that the battle now suddenly needed him.

"Toss a grenade!"

Corin fumbled to pull the metal sphere from his vest. He volunteered to help fight but all he could do was help distribute ammo. He's never had to actually use a grenade before and the moment he grabbed it he could not help but feel like it was going to explode in his hand at any moment.

"Fire in the hole!" he yelled, throwing it as hard as he could. Chen got ready to run as the grenade flew overhead, bouncing off the top of the door frame and landing at their feet.

"You've…got to be kidding me," Chen coughed, staring at the grenade at their feet. Corin had covered his head and huddled up in fear, stuttering, "Sorry, I'm not good with grenades either."

"Yeah, you didn't even pull the pin!" In a single motion, Steven grabbed the grenade, pulled the pin and tossed into the tram station, the lever falling away as it hit the ground. The grenade clanked down the steps as the three of them took cover behind the corner, waiting for the explosion. They could hear the footsteps as Council soldiers running for the stairs, as the grenade detonated. The explosion sent a wall of smoke flying out of the station. They didn't stop to see the aftermath. They just continued running, knowing an entire squad of enemy soldiers lead by one super soldier might be following close behind. Despite the burning in their legs, their exhaustion, they left the chaos behind them.

-.-

The expedition wasn't enough to fill a city but already the hospitals were filling up. People were either wounded from the bomb or wounded in the fighting. Some were suffering exhaustion. It may have sounded like a minor thing but these people had been fighting several battles all across the city. After each one, they had to run across the entire city. There were no breaks and no stops. Among them was Major Nova. She rubbed her bruised knuckles. She had gotten used to it by this time but the feeling of bone hitting bone was never comfortable.

"I'm fine," she repeated to the nurse treating her. All three of her teammates were finally together. Just a few hours earlier, she didn't know if any of them were even alive. It was an enormous relief to see them all safe.

"No offense, Major," Martin remarked. "You just went toe to toe with a man who can't die."

"He didn't even hit me," Nova said. The nurse looked at the Major and nodded. Aside from exhaustion, she was ok. Nova got up and quickly walked to the door, not even glancing at the room around her. Martin couldn't blame her for refusing to look at the dead and wounded that lined the tables. The expedition was fairly small and in the span of the few months they were here everyone has run into everyone else at least once. They knew every single dead and dying. No one wanted to be in the infirmary, least of all Nova. She paused once she was outside, turning to face Chen and Martin.

"Uhh…Terra?" Chen asked, not sure why Nova had turned to face them. Nova put a hand on their shoulder before saying, "It's good to see that you're both ok." Nova promptly turned and left.

"If you're headed to the control room, you might want to steer clear of Donavan," Martin called out, jogging to catch up with her. "He's kinda in a bad mood."

"I'll keep that in mind," Nova said without looking back, her eyes staring at the hall in front of her. "But right now, I need to speak with General Mercer."

-.-

General Mercer was in the control room, listening as Donavan explained the situation. He had to direct all the troops to and coordinate the defenses.

"General," Nova said sternly as she walked in. "I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Mercer asked calmly. He had to maneuvering the men like pieces on the chess board. The one difference was these chess pieces could think for themselves and could still operate in his absence. "According to your report, Greer is the leader of this whole operation. Field reports say he's leading the push and he's already wiped out two squads."

"I'm afraid it can't," Nova said stiffly. "I need to speak to you now." Mercer silently groaned. He was needed to coordinate the defense. Still, this conversation might help him think of something.

"In my office," he said. The doors hissed open to let the two in and locked behind them once it closed. Mercer took his time to take his seat behind his desk. He folded his hands in front of him as he assumed his normal posture.

"I hope this won't take long, Major," Mercer said slowly, almost threateningly.

"It'll take as long as you let it," Nova remarked, standing in the middle of the office, right in front of his desk.

"Major, I need not remind you we are still under attack."

"And I am not leading more men to their deaths until I know the truth," Nova growled. Under normal circumstances this might be considered insubordination. But right now, she didn't care.

"You must be more specific in order for me to understand you," Mercer remarked calmly.

"For over two days I've been left to pick up the pieces to some giant puzzle. Greer says the teams here are all copies being tested. The Council, the Tok'ra, orak vu'lom, and now there's apparently some hidden agenda behind the entire expedition. No more games, no more secret, no more files of expunged data. I want the whole truth."

Mercer leaned back, amused by Nova's tenacity. He planned for this moment; now he can reveal everything and claim that it was because of Nova's determination to get to the truth. He opened the drawer and placed the folders within on the desk, gesturing for Nova to open them. She did so, her eyes falling upon several packets of documents. The first packet of papers was about General Jack O'Neill. It had pages of the results of physical tests. It had psychological evaluations, detailed descriptions of his past and the results of them. The last page held a long list of people, candidates that contain similar histories or psychologies. The next packet had the same thing but this time with Colonel Samantha Carter. There were even packets on Doctor Daniel Jackson and Teal'c.

"I don't understand," Nova said, setting the folder back down.

"I'm sure you know of SG-1," Mercer said.

"Everyone knows about SG-1."

"Precisely. Everyone knows about SG-1 and their long list of accomplishments. The people in charge of the SGC wanted a team that can measure up to SG-1…their own version. On Earth, successful individuals are always studied in an attempt to find out how they got to where they are. The politicians in charge of the SGC wanted to know the secret behind SG-1's long chain of successes. What did SG-1 have that other SG teams didn't? They studied the psychology, social dynamics, and history of each teammate, making a list of candidates, people who could potentially measure up to SG-1, either as individuals or as a team. But, they had no way to test each candidate properly. A simulation can only do so much."

"So what does this have anything to do with this expedition?" Nova asked impatiently.

"When they read about Millennium, a city built by all four races in the Alliance of Four Great Races, in the Atlantis database, there was a debate on whether or not to send an expedition there. We have an Asgard core and Atlantis but the Furlings and Nox technology remained elusive. The SGC saw it as a chance to study these technologies. However, the politicians in charge of the SGC saw the perfect opportunity to test their candidates. SG-1 started with limited resources and managed to change an entire galaxy. The Replica Team needs to be able to do the same. If they succeed, they may be able create more teams with the capabilities of SG-1."

"So that's why we're out here?" Nova breathed, refusing to believe what she just heard. "That's what Greer meant by copies. The reason we came out here was a lie. It was never to find new technology; it was for them to run their...experiments? How many of us are candidates for this…test? And what happens to the people who fail this test?"

"I assume if we fail we are either dead or stranded in a foreign galaxy with no way to return," Mercer said, as if he was completely indifferent to the thought. "They send all of us to another galaxy. If we return, they can use the data to create a new team whose skills and abilities can compete with that of SG-1. If we do not return, that simply means their candidates did not live up to expectations.

"I thought we were out here to try to advance humanity and Earth."

"It depends on who you ask?" Mercer stated calmly, shifting his weight forward. "But even with the support of those two groups, it couldn't garner enough support to approve the expedition. The Council likely saw an expedition to a galaxy even further away as an excellent platform for staging an attack against the SGC and their members within the IOA also approved of the venture. The combined support of the three groups was enough to launch the expedition. The SGC wanted the chance to study Nox and Furling technology. The politicians in charge of the SGC wanted a team that could measure up to SG-1 that they could actually control. And, the political group known as the Stargate Council saw an expedition as the perfect opportunity to fulfill their goals. Those are all three factions: the SGC, the IOA, and the Stargate Council. We are here because of their own agendas."

Nova wasn't satisfied with this answer, pointing out, "That's not all the groups. What about the Tok'ra? What was the deal made with them?"

Mercer gave a tired sigh. Nova was not quitting her search for the truth.

"As I'm sure you are aware, the Tok'ra are a dying race," Mercer explained in a tired voice. "They were all spawned from the Goa'uld queen Egeria. With their queen dead, there is no way to sustain the Tok'ra population. They do not need to fear being killed by the Goa'uld but they will die out eventually without a new queen. In exchange for helping us with investigate the SG Council, the Tok'ra could join the Millennium Expedition in search of a way to save their race, blended with specific members of the expedition. They do not believe the Milky Way has any means of saving their race, so, after a very long debate within the Tok'ra Council, several Tok'ra have been attached to the expedition."

Nova listened as Mercer explained the Tok'ra's intentions, which sounded innocently enough. But, something was not adding up. "Is that really all they want?"

"You have reason to believe otherwise?"

"Orak vu'lom are a group designed for the sole purpose of killing. If they really wanted to find a way to save their race, they would've sent scientists, not assassins."

A smiled spread across Mercer's face when Nova said this, gladly clarifying the situation. "The Tok'ra did assign scientists to the expedition. However, there is one operative that wished to come along that the Tok'ra are…reluctant to trust."

"Who?" Nova demanded to know. Mercer slowly rose from his chair, his hands folding behind his back as he proceeded to explain to her the final piece of the entire puzzle.

"General!" a voice called out as Mercer finished explaining. Mercer and Nova both turned to look at the door. Donavan and his wheelchair filled the entire width of the door frame. "We've lost contact with another three squads. Reports say enemy forces are all gathering in tram station D6. They're also coming in at a faster rate than normal." Mercer merely raised an eyebrow at this statement, slowly standing up.

"Is there a team nearby?" he asked, stepping away from his desk.

"The Spartans and the War Hawks are trying to breach the perimeter but without any success."

"Is Greer still there?"

"According to reports, he's still there."

Mercer took a moment to analyze this new information. The General began sifting through his drawers as if he was looking for something. Now knowing the truth behind the expedition, she had a feeling she knew what he was going to do.

"General?" she said, no longer sure how to respond. Mercer turned to Nova with a friendly smile.

"I'm tired of sitting behind this desk," he stated. "It's time I join my men in the fight. In my absence, Commander Umar is in command." For as long as Nova's known Mercer, he's remained calm, almost unafraid of anything. He's remained calm through this entire situation. Even as he spoke, he sounded calm and unafraid, but Nova could still sense anger behind that statement.

"General," Donavan called out when he heard this. "You sure?

"I am not going to sit and do nothing while my men die" Mercer stated. Nova and Donavan both wanted to protest but the General didn't let them make their arguments. "I've been waiting for an opportunity to talk to the leader of this insurrection. Don't worry. Focus on repelling the enemy attacks. If I succeed, I may be able to end this entire thing." He leaned forward and picked up a long bag that he slung over his shoulder. As if the new information the General gave her wasn't suspicious enough, the bag also raised quite a few questions. It was long enough to hold golf clubs. So, what was Mercer carrying that required a bag that long? "Hold down the fort until I return." Without another word, Mercer left through the door on the opposite end of his office.

"Ok, I guess I'll talk to Umar about this," Nova said with a shrug.

"About what?" Donavan asked. Since Umar was now acting general Donavan would report to him and could let him know that Nova was looking for him.

"The reports say that they're sending over people faster than usual?" Donavan nodded in response.

"Almost twice as fast."

"Then I think I know a way to end this."

-.-

Plenty of people want to take charge but not everyone wants to remain in charge. Having the title of second in command sounds nice but Commander Umar was beginning to wish someone else had the job as he listened to Donavan's update.

"The search teams think they've found all the survivors but they want to continue searching to make sure. They're nearly done putting out the fires too. The hospitals say they have enough man power but the medical supplies are running low."

"That'll be the last of our problems once this is over," Umar said, feeling as if the entire world had just fallen on his head and he had been ordered to hold it back up. After the Atlantis and Destiny expeditions, the SGC tried to prepare for any situation and scenario. They prepared all sorts of protocols and technology for alien invasions through the stargate or from fleets of alien ships. They prepared for invisible aliens, parasitic aliens that control their hosts, aliens that could take on the appearance of other people, but they were completely unprepared for an attack by their own people. He sat across General Mercer's table, staring at the chair where the General would sit, wondering how tough it was to be him, running this whole expedition.

"What do you mean?" Donavan asked, setting the papers on the arm of his wheelchair.

"Majority of this expedition are civilians who've never seen an explosion outside of TV. We have a lot of cleaning up to do after this."

"We might be able to get a head start on that," Nova said as she walked in.

"Ma'am, you say you have an idea to end this?" Umar asked. All he wanted was for this nightmare to be over. Nova could not help but chuckle when she realized Umar was sitting across the table and not in Mercer's chair.

"You know, you can sit in his chair when you're acting in his place," she remarked. Umar looked at the chair again, imagining what it would be like to sit there.

"I'm good," he said, not wanting to feel the pressure of sitting in the chair. Nova smiled in amusement but she had to explain her plan.

"Alright, last time Millennium was attacked it was by the Ror'char and we repelled them by manipulating the environmental controls. I can't help but notice we haven't even tried that yet."

Donavan was able to immediately answer this. "For some reason we can't manipulate any of the environmental controls in the arm where the Council soldiers are coming from. Somehow all the variables are locked."

"Is it possible they severed the link between the atmospheric controls in their section of the city and central?" Nova asked, putting her theory to the test.

"I don't get it," Umar remarked before anyone could say anything. He did not want to be left in the dark when it came to planning.

"Think of a remote control car," Nova explained. "We tell it to go forward, it goes forward. But, if we snap off the receiver, we can tell it to go forward all we want and it won't do anything. Is it possible the Council severed the connection between the central city controls and their life support systems?"

"It makes sense now that I think about it," Donavan said. "If that's the case, the only place we can restore control is from that section of the city, the heart of enemy territory."

"Then this plan is perfect," Nova remarked with a smile. "Since Greer was able to punch a hole in our defenses, they are right now sending all their forces to help. They're base of operations is more vulnerable than before."

"You're suggesting we send all our men there?" Umar asked. He had to make sure he understood the plan before considering it.

"No. The hallways are narrow. The more people, the harder it is to maneuver. We would need to send in a small quad."

Donavan could take crazy ideas, he's been hearing about them ever since joining the SGC, but he had to speak up when he heard this. "That's suicide!"

"Not necessarily, we have one trump card. The Atlantis expedition was sent in with bare-bones equipment and the Destiny expedition lost most of theirs. We came a lot more prepared; we were packing some alien technologies and even experimental equipment the SGC's been developing. One team equipped with all our toys, everything we've gathered and learned from all three galaxies. We go in there reconnect the environmental controls."

Umar stared at Nova as if she had just proposed they attempt to walk on water. They were facing an army and she proposed fighting them with a squad.

"This is madness."

"No, this is the day we put everything the SGC learned and technology they gathered to the test."

-.-

With Greer at the front, the Millennium's defenses were crumbling. They're men were rallying and soon they could take Millennium for themselves; one step to taking down the entire SGC. They're men were pouring in as fast as they could, getting ready for launch the final attack against central city. Greer smiled at the thought as he patrolled the perimeter with four guards tailing behind him. The ones closest to Greer looked like the normal SG Council soldiers but the two in the back were different. Not only were they hulking in comparison to everyone else but the guns they were carrying were also much bigger. As if the guns didn't already look heavy, the two had attached gun shields to their weapons. One gunner had painted the phrase 'Smile and wait for the flash' on his shield while the other had pained the phrase 'Here hold these for me' on his.

Greer froze in his tracks, his four men stopping to see what had caught their leader's attention. He turned around, staring down the hall they had just walked through.

"Catch!" he called out, pulling the pin on a grenade and tossing into the distance. The metallic sphere clattered on the floor and soon afterwards, panicked yelling could be heard coming from around the corners as the grenade detonated. "We got company! Mark, Marie, deal with them."

Upon hearing this, the two hulking individuals in the back turned to face their opponents. 'Machinegun' Mark and Marie prepared their weapons and opened fire, a stream of bullets tearing into the wall, the roar of the weapons shaking the hallway. Finally, they stopped firing to see their carnage, a stream of smoke rising from the barrel.

"Hold your positions," Greer ordered, suspecting that the grenade didn't get all of them. His suspicions were confirmed when a pair of Millennium soldiers emerged and opened fire. Greer ducked down as a few bullets flew overhead, others bouncing off Mark and Marie's gun shields. This didn't faze the machine gunners as they opened fire again, forcing Millennium security to take cover, streams of destruction tearing into the hallway. Greer didn't have time to watch the battle unfold.

"Mow 'em down!" he ordered, turning and storming off with his remaining two men. The Millennium forces were in a lot worse position. They couldn't even peak around the corner without risking getting shot.

"What the hell are they hitting us with?!" one of the Millennium soldiers shouted as the corner seemed to melt away at the weapons fire.

"Sounds like one of the M240 models," another soldier shouted. "We need to fall back!" The squad leader considered this. They were pinned down under the fire of two medium machine guns. They could either fall back or pray that Council reinforcements don't show up before these two run out of ammo. The sound of the gunfire was so loud they didn't hear the clank as a metal orb was dropped onto the ground. One of the men only got enough time to mutter 'Oh crap' before the orb suddenly lit up like a halogen lamp, a blinding light filling the entire area, an ear-piercing whine screaming in their ears. The soldiers all collapsed to the floor, the guns clattering on the ground.

The two Council machine gunners could see a glow and high pitched whine but they had no clue what just happened. They exchanged curious glances, holding fire to see what would happen. They got ready to shoot again when a single man stepped out, casually dropping a long bag to the ground. They instantly recognized General Mercer but they were still confused why the General would walk out into the line of fire like this. They were even more puzzled when Mercer opened the bag and drew out a pair of sabers, their golden hilt and silver blade gleaming in the light. It was as if the General knew something they didn't as he walked toward them, not guns but swords in his hands. What he was doing was the equivalent of suicide yet Mercer continued walking forward, blades at the ready.

-.-

Wing Commander Christopher Umar of the Nigerian Air Force, Major Jennifer Hailey of the United States Air Force, Flight Lieutenant Charles Martin of the Royal Australian Air Force, Major Terra Nova of the United States Air Force, they all gathered at the armory in the back of the main science. Even Corin Nevec and Steven Chen were there.

"Well, Major, we're all here," Martin remarked. "Still no idea what you have in mind."

"I've talked it over with Major Hailey," Nova explained. "We're dealing with overwhelming odds but this fight determines whether or not we keep this city. We need every advantage we can get; we're going to use all the alien technology we've ever gathered to even the odds."

"I'm listening," Umar said. "But, if what we have doesn't seem enough I don't approve of this."

"McFree should be bringing in the crate," Hailey remarked. Martin shifted uneasily in his chair. He remembered during a recent mission Isaac McFree was captured by an alien race merely to be released with no apparent reason. Ever since, Martin could not help but feel there was something wrong with Isaac. "I've compiled a list of items we can use."

"It's not just the environment controls we should be looking for," Chen added coldly. "If Greer's the leader of the SG Council then Kara might be their hostage."

"Or working for them," Hailey pointed out. "She might be the reason Greer has mutated the way he is to begin with."

"We won't know until we're in there," Nova interrupted before the two could continue arguing. "Where is McFree?"

"Sorry I'm late," Isaac McFree announced loudly as he walked in. He looked at the remote in his hand and carefully dove a cart stacked with boxes and crates inside. "Got everything ordered." Hailey and Nova took the first crate off the top of the cart and lowered it to the ground.

"We're going to be fighting God knows how many Council soldiers. We're outnumbered and outgunned, so we need something to increase our survivability. This one is from Caldwell 70: the Ror'char reactive power armor."

"The secret to their bullet sponges," Martin translated. The Ror'char troopers that they've encountered have been able to withstand incredible amounts of fire, earning them the nickname 'bullet sponges'.

"The armor reacts to impacts; the harder it is hit, the more resistant it becomes. At least we won't die as easily."

"Where does the 'power' part come in?" Nova asked, remembering Hailey referred to it as 'reactive power armor'. It was Chen's turn to explain the inner workings of the suit.

"The suit's a giant machine, it enhances natural movement. You're faster, stronger, and the suit does most of the movement for you so you have more endurance. No pop culture reference, Charles?" Chen was surprised that Martin didn't use this opportunity to compare the suit with some movie or videogame.

"Didn't think it was appropriate right now," Martin said, opening the lid and setting his eyes on the oily black armor within. "How much stronger and faster?"

"Let me put it this way; you know those giant heavy backpacks you sometimes carry around, you can wear that and still be able to move and run like you weren't."

"Begin gearing up," Umar ordered. "Hailey can explain while you're putting your suit on." They all nodded and began passing around the suits of armor. Corin Nevec and Commander Umar didn't bother getting themselves armor. Corin Nevec was a civilian who was inexperienced in combat. Commander Umar was the current leader and, with Nova and Hailey being sent into battle, he had to stay behind.

"Oh no," Hailey said when she saw McFree reach for some armor. "You are _not_ coming along."

"Why not? You might need a medic or something."

Umar could not help but say, "Because, chances are, you're going to annoy Major Hailey with remarks that are either obscene, insensitive, or a combination of the two." Hailey sighed and rolled her eyes as she reached in for some armor. McFree admitted defeat and stepping back. All the pieces connected together, joints interlocking with other pieces. Nova reached for a chest piece but one suit caught her attention.

"Where did we get these suits?" she asked, feeling several slits inside one of the pieces.

"Well, most of us had to unload almost half a mag just to kill one soldier so they were pretty beaten up," Hailey explained. "Most of them were simply reassembled pieces. We only have one suit we recovered intact: the one from Vos Dreas."

Nova remembered Vos Dreas: a Ror'char military commander that was part of the Ror'char assault on Millennium.

"He's the guy you killed," McFree remarked. But, Nova had to hang her head and admit, "I wasn't the one that killed him." Everyone in the room looked at her in confusion but she didn't feel like explaining.

"Alright, what do we have in terms of weapons?" Chen asked, flexing his arm. He didn't even need to put much effort in moving; it felt like the suit was moving his arm for him. Technically, it was. Hailey clicked another case open, taking out a black rifle with a small naquadah generator attached to the top, its barrel glowing blue.

"This is the X-699, the Direct Plasma Rifle," Hailey said. "This is Earth's first plasma weaponry."

"I remember this thing," Chen remarked, taking the gun. "Colonel Carter was trying to demonstrate a faulty version when that one bounty hunter tried to shoot her."

"Well, we've actually made a lot of progress. The mini-naquadah generator provides it with the power to generate plasma rounds held together in a magnetic field and it fires at a cyclical rate of eight hundred RPM with next to no recoil. The muzzle velocity isn't the greatest but we're fighting close quarters."

"Dibs!" Martin called out enthusiastically.

"Why do you get dibs?" Chen immediately asked. "You already use the ion rifle."

"Yeah, 'cause you guys aren't as good with it."

"How would you know? You never let anyone else try it."

"Neither of you get dibs on it," Hailey interjected. "I've been working with Colonel Carter on this thing; I get to use it. This is a highly advanced piece of technology."

"Hey, Hailey," McFree called, seeing and seizing the opportunity presented. "I have my own highly advanced piece of technology, if you're interested."

"I could demonstrate this for you though," she added, her eyes narrowing in agitation at McFree crude remark.

"Shutting up."

Satisfied that McFree chose to drop the joke, she reached into the crate and pulled out a bracelet that she slapped onto Martin's gauntlet. "This is the Chimera holographic system, based off of Asgard holographic technology. Recently we've also incorporated aspects of Ancient technology too to make it a little more interactive. With a press of the button it'll create a holographic doppelganger." Martin had to see this for himself. He pressed the blue button on the bracelet and waited for something to happen. He looked up and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw his own face staring back. A holographic copy of Charles Martin had materialized right in front of him.

"This would be useful in a firefight," Nova remarked, passing her hand through the hologram. She quickly retracted her hand when the image began to blink before vanishing. Hailey moved onto the next piece of equipment, a bronze tetrahedral with several blue screens on each side.

"We call this the drop-shield. Put it down it'll form a dome-shield over the area. It's based on Goa'uld and Tok'ra technology. The shield is technically one way, the person inside the dome can easily shoot out, but only slow moving objects can enter like a standard Goa'uld personal shield."

"How come we've never seen these before?" Nova asked. "This stuff could've been useful."

"They're all prototypes. The X-699 is the oldest of the four and it's still not ready for mass production. This is just field testing. The only thing we have left are a crate of tacs."

"This just might work," Corin said, looking at all the stuff in front of him. It was a treasure trove of alien and human technology. "I wish I could help with something."

"Actually," Nova said, realizing she nearly forgot. "While we're gone, I need you to do some research for me. Find everything you can on someone called Am-heh."

"Terra, when are you going to tell us what's going on?" Chen asked impatiently. Nova had been acting strange ever since she talked to the General. Everyone could sense it and wanted to know the truth. So, Nova told them; she told them everything. She told them the IOA's plans to test their candidates that could compete with SG-1. She even told them the Tok'ra's intentions.

"They used us," Martin breathed angrily, his fist clenching. "They don't care about how many of us get burned alive in their bloody trial by fire. I was supposed to come out here to help people, not be their lab rat."

"Next time the IOA tells the SGC what to do, how do we know if they have a hidden agenda?!" Hailey interjected. "We agreed to come out here for one reason, they sent us out here for another."

"The situation still hasn't changed," Nova interrupted, looking at everyone in the room. "The SGC, the IOA, the Tok'ra, the SG Council, yes, they all had their own agendas. Everything that's happened has been part of one of their plans. But there is one more group with its own agendas: us. We are here? Of all the places you could've been, why are you here? Of all the assignments you could've taken, why did you choose this one? The reasons why will differ, but the important thing is that you're here right now and you can still decide where you go next. The IOA thinks that they can just send us all across the galaxy to see if we're good enough. I say we go out there and show them just how good we are."


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I apologize for the delay but my personal life hit me in the face very suddenly. This is my attempt to wrap up my two parter. I would like to publicly thank Anthropos Agnostos for working with me to fill in any potential plot holes or confusions, it is greatly appreciated. Anyways, enjoy._

-.-

Corin plopped down on his chair, his head falling backward. His friends were out on the battlefield, risking their lives for him and he was back in his office doing research. If they failed this last fight, the entire city and the expedition would fall. His mind wandered, thinking everything that's happened to him. He saw these people as an opportunity to find asylum from the Ror'char. Then, the prospect of getting the chance to explore the universe and see things no one ever gets the chance of seeing, convinced him to join Wolf Pack. He never expected chaos like this to happen within the city of Millennium. He thought about all the lectures he gave when he was a teacher, all the preaching he did about how a system that does not properly control its people will crumble into chaos and violence.

_"Freedom, the ideal style of living in theory. In practice, it fails to provide for its people. If the people are not properly managed, they will turn on everyone around them. Differences become motives to kill."_

Corin took out a binder from the top shelf of his office, an entire dictionary of the different Goa'uld and System Lords from the Milky Way galaxy. Am-heh sounded like an Egyptian god or something along those lines so digging into the workings of the System Lords was a good place to start.

-.-

Greer swiftly strolled through the hall, his two men still behind him. The final wave had begun its attack, over fifty armed men rushing into the city to deliver the killing blow. They will take the city, then go to the Furling planet to find a power source, then return to Earth and tear down the SGC. They may not be able take down Stargate Command in one blow but the SGC can't launch an attack against Millennium. And even if they run out of men, they will show the world the evils of the SGC. Greer had to catch up with the invasion wave.

"Come on," he said with smile. "We've done enough walking. It's time we make out final move. The rest of the men have already begun the attack; we'll catch up with them and take the city.

"I can't let you do that."

Greer and his men looked around wildly, not expecting this statement, which had come so suddenly it was as if the darkness itself had said it. They were stunned when they saw a black figure step out of the dusk, light reflecting off his sabers. The shadows pulled back, black curtains sliding apart to reveal the man on stage: General William Mercer.

"You," one of Greer's men growled. General Mercer was the leader of the Millennium Expedition, a member of the SGC, their sworn enemy. Under normal circumstances, they would laugh at the old man. He didn't wear a tactical vest, only a black battle dress uniform, he had come alone and was wielding not guns but a pair of swords. This was a high ranking military general and it looked as if he had finally lost his mind to confront them like this. But, there was something about him, as if dark energy was seeping out of his skin, souring the air; it was as if light was too terrified to touch him, his face dim even close to the glowing bulbs above their heads. What was even more terrifying was that Mercer had come in the direction of Greer's attack force. "How'd you get over here? There were men down that hall."

"Yes, a fifty two of them in fact," Mercer stated, calmly walking forward. "They're all dead now."

"You're expecting us to believe you killed all of them?" the man to the left of Greer snorted skeptically. Fifty two men, that was their attack force and Mercer claimed to have single handedly killed them all.

"I don't expect you to believe anything," Mercer said. Even in a situation like this, he still stood with his back straight, his head high, his eyes staring straight ahead. His posture, his movements, his expression, even his voice, he still acted like a gentlemen at a royal ball. But, his tone had changed, a layer of venom and hate hiding behind the voice of the old man as he said, "You… your organization, your cause, all a joke, trash waiting to be taken out. All fifty two of your men in your attack force are dead. I don't expect you to believe me; I only expect you to join them, like garbage being taken to a landfill."

"Shut up you old geezer!" Greer snapped, his fist clenched angrily. "You and the SGC go around terrorizing the galaxy, taking what you want and killing anyone that disagrees and you just twist the truth into some contrived narrative so you can continue keep killing! Hell has a very special place for the warmongers and xenophobes involved with the SGC."

"You continue preaching, but your words fall on deaf ears. You and you're group are nothing but waste; and, like waste, you must be properly disposed of," Mercer stated, a statement that enraged one of Greer's men.

"You son of a bitch!" one of them yelled, throwing away his gun, pulling out his machete, and charging forward. He tightened his grip on his machete, swinging it has hard as he could, his eyes red with anger, fuming as he screamed, "I'm going to hack you apart piece by piece you filthy animal! YOU'RE DEAD!"

"You're the one who's dead."

There was a sickening crunch as the man's mangled body collapsed to the floor, his machete falling to the ground with his mangled corpse.

"MURDERER!" the other one screamed, aiming his shotgun. He suddenly yelled in pain as the back of his hand was cut open, the shotgun dropping to the floor.

"Such brutality," Mercer sighed, shaking his head, flicking the blood off of both sabers. "There was a time combat had honor, it was an opportunity to learn and understand both yourself and your enemy. The shikra saber: a weapon from a more civilized era combined with modern metallurgy, its naquadah blade has been honed to the thickness of an atom."

"Why are you even here?" Greer asked in annoyance. The sooner he could shoot the General, the sooner they could move on. Mercer smiled, glad he was finally asked that.

"You wouldn't understand but growing old isn't easy," the General said in a friendly tone. "This year would be my sixty sixth birthday; my body is not what it used to be. I just want to get this whole ordeal over with so things can return to the way they were."

Greer laughed at this statement. Mercer had come all this way to confront them and he was complaining about being old. "Just retire already, old man!" Greer's second soldier pulled out his pistol but before he could pull the trigger, he felt cold metal in his chest as Mercer plunged the shikra saber in his opponent.

"Well, look at this!" Greer cackled, pulling out a pair of submachine guns while Mercer pulled out his sword from the corpse. "The old fart's got some moves!" Greer aimed his guns but never got the chance to fire as Mercer's sword cleaved through his wrists, the guns clattering to the ground. Greer was unfazed, knowing that his hands would grow back; he's had wounds worse than this before. But, he was unprepared for Mercer to slice off his right leg. Greer lost his balance and toppled over. The General planted the shikra sword on the ground, letting Greer land on the tip of its blade. With a single twist, the sword was yanked out, the blade slicing open Greer's body like butter. He couldn't move as Mercer impaled him with the both blades, lifting him up into the air and slamming him against the cold hard ground with a force that shattered bones all across his body. Mercer immediately impaled Greer again to force him to his feet just as the injured man's leg finished growing back.

Greer may have been confident earlier but his confidence was fading fast. Mercer rushed forward, a whirlwind of blades swung in front of him. Greer found himself stumbling backwards as the swords carved through his flesh. Wounds closed merely to open back up again. He's had to heal harsh injuries before but never so quickly. In the past, he could at least fight back; he may get hit in ways that would kill a man but he could still fight back. Now, his every movement was dictated by General Mercer and the wounds inflicted on him.

In a desperate attempt to defend himself, he pulled out a machete with his newly grown hand. He managed to block three swings but the rest of them went straight through and Mercer kept going.

-.-

There was a quiet hum as the tram finally returned to the station located within the arm of the city. The station was jam packed with people, SG Councilors preparing for the invasion.

"About time," one of them muttered as they all grabbed crates of weapons and ammo, preparing to board. They holstered their small arms and slung their rifles across their back, grabbing as much equipment as possible. The doors hummed open and they prepared to step onto the tram but immediately stopped. They were preparing to be transferred to central city for an invasion. They were not prepared to see a team of Millennium soldiers. Their weapons had already been put away and they were caught completely off guard.

Terra Nova, Jennifer Hailey, Charles Martin, and Steven Chen. They had arrived, prepared for battle, Tau'ri, Ancient, Asgard, Tok'ra, and Goa'uld technology ready. The four of them got ready, Hailey turning on the X699, Chen extending a buzz sword, The SGC had been operating the stargate for nearly a decade. A decade ago, Earth was still young and oblivious to what was happening around them. They may still be young but they are learning. Terra raised her two P90's, gave a small smile as she thought about how far they've come, now using alien technology in their fights, and said, "Let the good times roll!"

"Come on, everyone!" Charles yelled. "This is it!"

They charged forward. Nova landed the first blow, a flying reverse sidekick to the face of the closest soldier. She opened fire as she landed, spraying the area with bullets. Chen rushed in, pistol in one hand and buzz sword in the other, slicing through everyone in front of him. Bright teal bolts of energy streaked through the air from Hailey plasma gun. Martin rolled in, hitting the stock of his gun against the nearest Council soldier before opening fire on the rest. There was nothing but the adrenaline in their veins and the sound of the battle raging around them. Row after row of Council soldiers fell as the four plowed through them.

"Charles, look out!" Chen yelled. Martin looked around wildly, trying to find what had Chen so panicked. It was only then he saw three enemy soldiers walk in through the door beside him. In a panicked attempt to save himself, Martin pressed the blue button on the bracelet. The three soldiers came in just in time to see Charles Martin run right while Charles Martin ran left. They hesitated for a brief second, confused when they saw two Charles Martins run off in two different directions. It was a brief moment of hesitation but it was long enough for Chen to shoot through the three soldiers through the hologram on the left.

"Could you please be a little more specific?!" Martin snapped as his doppelganger faded away, not liking how close he got to getting shot. The tram station was beginning to get cleared out but soon more reinforcements would arrive.

"Chen!" Nova yelled. "Find the environmental controls!"

"Got it!" Chen yelled back, turning and running down another hall.

-.-

Greer could feel the adrenaline streaming through his veins as he finally turned and ran. Mercer was too strong, too powerful. Bryan Greer only made it a few feet before stumbling forwards and falling to his knees coughing up blood, more than before. He was exhausted but this wasn't just being tired from fighting Mercer.

_"My body," _he thought to himself, still crawling away as more blood poured from his mouth_. "It's starting to give out. It can't keep healing itself like this. I can't die until I finished the mission! How is he doing this? His strength, his speed, it's not humanly possible." _

He looked up, expecting an empty hall to crawl down. But, the hall was anything but empty. His attack force, the men that went ahead before him, were there, at least their remains were. Corpses littered the ground, others were slumped against the walls. Gaping slash wounds, bullet wounds, even the blast marks from staff weapons, these could be seen on the dead. The walls showed the signs of the battle, missed bullets tearing entire chunks out of it. Mercer was telling the truth; he had cut through Greer' fifty two men earlier. Greer could hear the General slowly walking up behind him. His determination renewed and his heart fill with rage, Greer picked up a nearby machete and charged at Mercer, yelling furiously. With a single thrust, he plunged the machete into the figure before him. Greer smiled triumphantly, it looked like he might've won, but then felt the figure which had had just stabbed crumble like cloth. He fell to the floor, the jacket of Mercer's battle dress uniform covering his face. The General now wore the black shirt underneath and had used the jacket as a distraction.

Greer barely had the time to rip the jacket off his face when he felt a burning blast hit him in the back. He felt the force of the blast shatter bone and sear flesh. A second blast hit him in the shoulder, the joints snapping as clothing, skin, and flesh melted away from the heat. Finally, Greer burst to his feet, looking around wildly. He barely had enough time to see a bright flash of orange energy hit him in the face.

Any one of these three shots would've killed a normal human, but Greer could heal these wounds. His eyes reformed and his vision returned. He glared at Mercer, who had returned one of his swords to a sheath on his back and now held a staff weapon his right hand. This wasn't the usual staff weapon though; it was shorter, almost half the size, it had a leather strap that would allow it to be worn over the shoulder, and it lacked the enormous paddle at one end. Greer remembered reading about staff weapons like that in SG-1's mission report involving the Sodan. He had always wondered how much of the report was true; at the very least, the description of the weapon was.

Now surrounded by guns, Greer was able to get his hand on a pair of pistols, prying them from the holsters of two of his dead men, and firing…or at least he tried to. A blinding orange bolt launched from Mercer's staff weapon, hitting Greer's right hand. The heat and energy of the bolt ignited the bullets in the chamber and the magazine, the weapon exploding and this coupled with the force of the staff shot, Greer's right hand was blown clean off. He aimed with the pistol in his left hand and managed to get off a few shots, the bangs echoing through the halls. The click of an empty mag echoed as the last round was fired and Mercer was still unscathed. The General shouldered the staff weapon before pulling out the second shikra saber once again.

"I must know," Mercer stated, stepping out of the plumes of dust where the bullets had impacted. "The gods of the Milky Way were not immortal; did you really believe that you could be? Or was immortality not what you were after, was it your cause?" Greer glared at Mercer about this question, providing the answer. "I've met fools who sold their souls in a desperate attempt to be immortal, oblivious to the fact that there is no such thing. You are the first person I've met who accepted the same deal with this fact in mind. Are you really prepared to face the consequences?"

-.-

Chen was familiar with Ancient, Asgard, and human computers. Finding a government building with access to the city mainframe and hacking right in was easy. The halls were empty, every enemy soldier going to assist in the attack or going to deal with Terra, Jennifer, and Charles. Only a sparse handful remained and he had easily avoided all of them. Once he found the Environmental control center, hacking the computer was even easier.

"Donavan," Chen reported over the radio. "I've finished reconnecting the environmental controls to central city."

"I can confirm that," Donavan replied from his post in the control room. "If you get out of there, I can increase the gravity and take them all out."

"Not yet," Chen said, picking his gun and taking off down the hall. "Kara's still here somewhere; I'm not going anywhere without her."

"She might be one of them," Donavan pointed out.

"No, there's no way you can convince me that she would willingly take part in this."

"Chen…Nova, Martin, and Hailey can't keep fighting for long."

Steven Chen paused, knowing that this was true. It was only those three against every Council soldier left behind.

"Give me five minutes," he said. "After that, seal the bulkhead doors and vent the atmosphere."

"You're telling me to kill you?"

"I'm telling you to save everyone else."

Chen's patience was running thin and his temper was growing short. He had to find Kara before Donavan seals them both in and vents the atmosphere. She was looking for some sort of medical research. But, central city housed all government facilities. Then it struck him: medical research. If it was in the testing phase, it might've been placed in a hospital. He rushed back to the computer, pulling up the map. His heart raced when he saw that there was a hospital nearby. He blinked a couple times, burning the image into his mind.

He turned and faced the empty hallway. He was wearing the Ror'char power armor, which should enhance his running speed. He took off, his legs pushing against the floor as hard as he could, his legs moving as fast as they could. It wasn't until he reached the end of the hall he realized how helpful the suit was. Normally, by this time, he would have been out of breath and his heart would be racing. But, with this suit, it didn't feel much more than a jog.

"I'm coming, Kara," he muttered to himself. "Just hang on; I'm coming."

-.-

Constance was moving in and out of the room, checking the crates and supplies, making sure everything was in order. She may have simply been making sure weapons and ammo were ready for deployment but Kara Osborn was still her prisoner. Constance knew Greer hoped to eventually turn her. Once he got back, they could show her the evidence and get a new member.

"You really should help your teammates," Osborn said loudly, hoping that she could get a moment alone to escape. It was a petty attempt but there wasn't much else she could do.

"They'll deal with your friends soon enough," Constance replied, closing a supply case. Osborn smiled at this comment.

"Actually," she remarked. "I think one of them has come to deal with you." Constance stared at Osborn in confusion before turning around to scan the room. She barely even caught a glimpse behind her before Chen's fist met her jaw. She collapsed to the floor in a heap, letting Chen step over her. He respected the dead, not the damned.

"You could've given me away," Chen immediately snapped.

"Well, you sorta took your time rescuing me," Osborn argued. Chen simply shook his head. As much as he wanted to argue with her, they were on the clock.

"We're heading out of here," he said, grabbing her by the wrist and practically dragging her out of the room. Kara opened her mouth to protest but found herself being hauled across the room. It was obvious he was nervous about something but she couldn't figure out what.

"What's going on?"

"In a few minutes, the bulkhead doors between here and the tram station are locking shut and the air gets vented," Chen panted. Osborn halted in her tracks, unable to believe what she was just told. "What're you doing, come on!"

"Shouldn't we be running away from the station then?" she asked. Chen gawked for a moment, suddenly feeling incredibly stupid. He was taking her back to the tram station so they could escape but simply running out of the entire area that was going to be sealed would've been easier.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get-" Before he could finish the sentence, a large figure suddenly rammed him like a train.

"Steven!" Kara yelled when she saw Casanova seem to appear out of nowhere and tackle Chen to the ground.

"Get out, now!" Chen yelled back. He grabbed the buzz sword attached to his belt and tossed it to Kara. He could've just sliced Casanova but, instead, he had thrown the weapon to her and was telling her to run. She could've just stabbed Casanova for him but the mere idea of hurting someone turned her stomach and she knew Chen knew this. She looked back at him, suddenly realizing the answer. She had heard the explosions from the arms; she knew what was going on in the arms of the city. Chen didn't want to end it quickly. His life was a long story of people hurting him and his loved ones and getting away with it, his heart, mind, and soul filled with nothing but pure hatred and a thirst for revenge. He didn't want to simply kill them; he wanted the chance to smash their skulls with his bare hands, to feel their spines crumble in his palm. He didn't want to kill them fast; he wanted to kill them slow, to make it last and make it hurt. She glanced back at him before taking off down the hall, praying that he comes out of this alive. Chen smiled when he saw Kara run off.

Casanova was on top of him, trying to reach for his throat in an attempt to strangle him. Under normal circumstances, the giant's superior strength would've allowed him to easily clasp Chen's windpipe and crush it like a straw. But, with the help of the power armor, Chen wedged his leg up against the big man's chest and kicked him off. Casanova wasn't going to give up though, charging at Chen once again.

Steven thought back to his childhood, living in a neighborhood run by street gangs. This scene, the enormous man charging at him, ready to pummel his skull into a bloody lump, it was all too familiar. Back then, he would be running as fast as he could. But, things have changed; the tables have turned and Chen was not the boy he used to be.

He got ready for the attack, entering the proper stance. Anticipate the first blow. Line up the shot and…

Chen slammed his fist into the back of Casanova's head, sending the big man to the ground. Casanova angrily punched the floor before jumping back to his feet, sending a flurry of punches at his opponent. Chen managed to block each punch before landing a kick that sent Casanova back to the ground. Steven grinned, feeling the inevitable victory. The feeling was short lived as he was pelted by bullets. He raised his hand to make sure he wasn't shot in the face, barely able to glimpse Porter firing at him in the distance. Chen charged up to Porter, the alien suit of armor soaking up the bullets, and shoved the gun aside. Suddenly, Chen yelled in shock and panic when Porter whipped out a machete.

The Ror'char armor that they were all wearing was almost like a Goa'uld shield; it could protect against high velocity things like bullets with ease but it wouldn't detect a slower moving object like the swing of a machete. The weapon could slice through him as easily as flesh. As if to add insult to injury, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Casanova helping Constance back to her feet. His desire for revenge just might get him killed.

-.-

The battle outside the tram station was not going well either. With Chen gone to hack the computer, it was only Nova, Hailey, and Martin, left to fight the entire Council force. Nova fell to her knees as another burst of bullets hit her chest plate. One Council soldier even had a staff weapon and managed to hit her in the stomach, a plume of smoke shooting from the impact. The armor was absorbing every round but it could only do so much.

Hailey was having trouble too. A shotgun to the knee sent her to the floor, letting a Council soldier kick the X 699 away. She immediately reacted and pulled out her pistol but before she could take aim, she found herself staring at the barrel of a shotgun. She expected this to be the end of her life, a single blow of the shotgun to her face extinguishing her existence, but the enemy soldier holding it looked up in shock. Charles Martin had rushed over and picked up the X-699 and aimed it at them.

"Ima firin mah lazer!" Martin cheered triumphantly as he pulled the trigger, a storm of energy bolts mowing down the Council soldiers. Hailey looked behind her in shock, not expecting Martin to use the prototype energy weapon to save her life. Martin immediately handed the energy weapon back to its original wielder, not having any time to discussion or debate.

"Backs together!" Nova yelled as they all backed up to the center of the room. The Ror'char armor made them more durable but not invincible and they had all taken hits all across their bodies. They've never tested just how many bullets it could take so the next one just might be the last. Once they were close enough together, Nova planted the shield generator on the ground. A shimmering blue dome formed around the three of them, bullets bouncing off the outside. This was a Tok'ra one-way shield. They could shoot out but their enemies could not shoot in. But, even Nova knew that this only bought them more time; the shield would eventually give out.

-.-

Greer didn't know how many times he's lost his arms but he didn't care. He was going to kill Mercer even if it meant impaling the General with his snapped ulna. He raised his still regenerating hand for a punch but gave a violent twitch as a set of blades were thrust into his throat. His hand fell limp as he gave a strangled gurgle. Mercer glared at his opponent, tightening his grip on the swords. The General had Greer on the run; now he had Greer struggling to simply stand before him. He could've easily pulled his blades out and continued butchering the man, but he had a few words to say.

"I understand why you thought you had an advantage over me," Mercer remarked. "I have neither your regenerative capabilities nor a way to stop you from using them. I'll let you in on a little secret though; do you know how I managed to fight you this entire time, to bring you to your knees in front of me?"

Greer struggled to look at Mercer, using whatever muscles were not severed by the blades within his throat. It was only then the truth hit him. It seemed so obvious now; he was stunned he didn't realize it earlier. He stared at the General, unable to believe the obvious conclusion, watching as General William Mercer's eyes glowed.

"I may lack your regenerative abilities," Mercer said, his voice changed, deepened into something hollow and demonic. "But I have seen something similar while in the service of Anubis." With the whip of his hand, Mercer pulled out his swords, letting Greer collapse to the ground in a heap. Greer weakly looked back up at Mercer. With his head half hidden in the shadows, Greer could only see Mercer's black silhouette from the ground. "So then, Greer; how many times will I have to kill you before you stay dead?"

-.-

Even with the power armor, Chen was beginning to tire from his fight with Casanova, Porter, and Constance. He had more skill and was assisted by his mechanical suit of armor but he had already tired himself running to hack the computer and find Kara and there were three of them. One wrong move and he would find himself sandwiched between the three. It was only then he remembered: Donavan was going to vent the atmosphere. Finally giving up on the fight, Chen turned and ran. He could hear footsteps of the three Councilors in pursuit. Donavan had followed his instructions to the letter; the heavy bulkhead doors were beginning to hiss shut. In the event of an accident, these doors would shut to protect sections of the city. Now, if Chen didn't get out of there he would be a casualty of the fight.

"Steven!"

Chen looked around wildly, trying to find who called him. He spotted Kara standing through the doorway of an ark in the distance. Running out of the area being vented would take too long so she took an ark to escape. But, she refused to abandon him like that so she maintained the connection and was waiting for him. Even she could see the doors closing. Chen bolted for the ark. By this time, even the armor could not help his endurance. Fighting the Councilors at the tram station, running to hack a computer with access to the environmental systems, running to the hospital to find Kara, and fighting Porter, Casanova, and Constance at once; Chen had completely exhausted himself. He was still running but his speed was dropping like a rock.

-.-

Nova, Hailey, and Martin all looked up in surprise as the doors sealed, trapping most of the Council reinforcements. The few remaining enemy soldiers easily and quickly fell. They all exchanged glances, giving sighs of relief that it was all over.

-.-

Osborn was not just going to let Chen die. She took off her shoe and placed it in the ark so the connection would not be broken before running up to Steven Chen. His muscles were cramping and it felt like his lungs were being jabbed by needles.

"What're you doing?" Chen panted angrily. He was being chased and the doors could seal at any moment but she chose to run to get him, slinging an arm over her shoulder and practically dragging him to the ark. She had more energy and could run faster but she was now dragging Chen along with her.

"If we live through this, you can kill me afterwards," Kara groaned, trying to help Chen move faster. The ark was only a few feet away but suddenly it felt like miles. Seconds felt like hours and the door to their escape looked like it was running away from them. They were out of time; it was now or never. The doors of the built-in gateway had begun to close. They summoned what energy they had left and leapt through. At that moment, Donavan severed the ark's connection, the world vanishing and the doors sealing shut, trapping Porter, Constance, and Casanova on the other side. In a few moments, the atmosphere in that entire section would be vacuumed and the entire Council attack force would be wiped out. It was over.

Kara looked at the ark. Her shoe was maintaining the connection, like putting an object in the event horizon of the stargate. When the link broke and the door closed, the shoe was likely sliced in half as the connection between the two points in space was severed.

"I really like those shoes," she remarked. Chen chuckled at this statement, holding up her shoe in his hand.

"I know," he panted, so tired that he just let it fall on his face when his hand plopped to the floor. Osborn gave a smile. Even with impending death, he still thought about the little things.

-.-

Greer fell to the floor, desperately trying to crawl away from Mercer, who calmly walked to keep up. The dying man tried to push himself off the ground but felt his arm break under the weight of his body. He finally just rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. His skin and shredded clothes were soaked with sweat and blood.

"Looks like you're out of lives," Mercer, or at least the symbiote inside of Mercer, said, putting away his swords. "Humans continue to both amaze and disappoint me."

"Screw you…monster," Greer managed to choke, hatred burning in his eyes. Mercer only smiled at this statement in amusement, listening as Greer continued preaching. "This isn't over. We won't stop until the SGC pays for its crimes. You think I feel guilty about the people who died in those explosions? They deserved it. This is a mission to make the SGC pay for everything it's done, to stop their xenophobic crusade. Even if we fail, someone else will tear down this neo-Nazi organization; not everyone's going to be fooled by your brainwashing and propaganda." Greer gave another pained gasp as his body continued to degrade. "You'll all pay." Greer's mouth began to tremble, no longer able to utter any discernable words. Mercer merely sighed, unslinging the staff weapon and raising it above Greer. This was a fight and fights were meant to end with swift deaths. Greer would inevitably die a horribly painful death as every organ and cell in his body withered away. One shot from the staff weapon would end Greer's life quickly and painlessly. A single orange light flashed through the room as Mercer fired his weapon, the bolt blasting through Greer's body. The nonstop healing had finally taken its toll; his wound didn't close but his eyes did. Greer's body fell limp, the last ounce of life leaving his body along with his last breath.

-.-

The smoke rising from the city had begun to clear and everyone was returning to the remains of their post. The city of Millennium seemed angelic when they first arrived. That sense had been destroyed, the buildings devastated by the bomb and the battles. The wall behind the stargate was gone, a gentle breeze blowing into the gate room. Carts of debris and destroyed equipment were being wheeled out. People worked around the clock, sweeping glass, dust, and ash off the floor. The computers in the gate room had been replaced. Repairs were already underway. The infirmary was usable once again and that's where Chen was sent after the battle.

"I hate this," he told Kara, who was working to restock the supply cabinets. The bottles inside had been knocked off by the blast. "Why don't you have to sit out?"

"I was only held hostage," she replied simply.

"Exactly, so shouldn't you be undergoing psychological evaluations or something?"

Kara chuckled at this. "You think there's something wrong with me?"

"I _always_ thought there was something wrong with you."

Chen and Osborn's bickering was loud enough that everyone in the hall could hear it too. Nova and Martin walked in with Corin close behind them. Corin placed a binder he had in his hand on a table near the entrance.

"At least some things never change," Nova remarked. Osborn and Chen looked at the three of them, not expecting them to just walk in. "Chen, I thought you were going to hack the computers the Council left behind."

"I _was_, then the good doctor orders me to 'take a break'. How are you guys fine?"

"Contrivance, plot convenience," Martin shrugged. Nova chuckled at Martin's remark.

"The new equipment certainly made a difference. Hailey's going to be on crutches for the next few days; took a shotgun to the knee. Though, venting the atmosphere was a pretty brutal way to go."

"More brutal than tripling the gravity?" Chen asked. "This was a clean kill. If I let Donavan up the gravity, the cleanup crew would be spending a week mopping up the blood. The reason I even told him to vent the atmosphere to begin with was because I figured the Council had brought spare supplies. Or else, if they had won, they would be facing the same shortage we are." Nova silently acknowledged that he was right. The bomb the Council detonated destroyed food, medical supplies, weapons, and spare equipment. The Council had brought extra. It wasn't enough to get them back on their feet but it was a start.

"Speaking of which, were you able to get any data off the laptops they left behind?" Nova asked. Chen grumbled in annoyance and embarrassment.

"Apparently, when the Council decided to attack, they initiated some sort of virus. If a code was inputted ever half an hour, the virus stays dormant but, since we kinda just kicked their asses out of our city, no one put in the code and the virus wiped out all data on the drive before I got the chance to hack it."

Osborn was in a lot better mood than Chen, loudly saying "That's his way of saying he screwed up."

"That's the second screw up in two days," Martin mentioned. Before the Council attack on the city, a laptop Chen was supposed to hack into burned itself out after its failsafe was tripped. "You're off your game, mate."

"Not my fault!" Chen argued. "The first one, Hailey was hacking and I didn't get the chance to even try hacking the second time."

"Gentlemen," Nova interrupted before they could continue bickering. "It's been a long two days for all of us and we could all use some sleep." Nova ran her fingers through her long hair. She removed the hair band holding it in a ponytail and let dangle free. For the first time, she could relax. "Without a hold on Millennium, we've at least dealt these people a crippling blow. Judging from their numbers, I'd say the bulk if not the whole group had participated in this attack."

"I'm not so sure about that," Osborn said, remembering her conversations while she was hostage. Everyone in the infirmary looked at her in surprise as she finally closed up the supply cabinet. She had intended on telling General Mercer but telling Wolf Pack first shouldn't hurt. "They tried…recruiting me. But, since I didn't trust them, they thought they could get my support by offering 'proof' of their cause."

"I don't get it," Corin remarked. "What proof do they have that's so dangerous?"

"They call him the Director, some politician involved with the SGC. They say the Director showed them proof that the SGC's been falsifying mission reports and abusing their power with the stargate."

"What, they believed this?" Martin scoffed. Nova was more understanding than Martin.

"A lot of people involved with the SGC, the scientists and doctors at Area 51, never qualified for gate travel," the Major explained. "Without traveling and seeing things first hand, they only have our mission reports and might just believe whatever this person told them. I don't suppose they showed you this proof?" Osborn just shook her head. Corin's face tensed; as a former teacher who taught politics, he understood how big of a threat this could be.

"I think there's more to this 'proof' than it seems," Chen added. "I decided to crack one of their laptops open; it had a little something connected inside. I left it on my lab table but…" Chen's voice trailed off, hesitating to say anything.

"But what?" Martin asked impatiently.

"In my professional opinion: a brainwashing device, or at the very least, a recreation of one…a very crappy recreation of one."

"Are you saying this proof is nothing more than them being brainwashed?" Osborn asked. She knew that the Councilors intended on showing her the proof they were shown. If the proof was nothing more than brainwashing, she realized she could easily be swayed to the other side. She always thought the idea was horrible, turning into someone that she wasn't was equivalent to death in her mind.

"I doubt it," Chen replied. "We've seen stuff like this with the Goa'uld and the Ancients. The contraption was a pale imitation, a musket to an assault rifle. I doubt it could actually completely brainwash someone. Maybe, make them more…susceptible to outside influence. Whatever proof they say they have, the person within range of this thing when it's active is more likely to believe what's being fed to them. If they find the right people, with the help of this machine, they could gather themselves a gang of followers."

"But they're still brainwashed blokes," Martin remarked, making Chen put his hand to his head in annoyance.

"They're not brainwashed in the sense you're thinking. It can't make them do anything they weren't already capable of doing; it's only increased their…uh…Kara I don't know the word for it."

"Suggestibility," Osborn said. "It's the quality that makes someone more likely to accept what they are told or act on what they are suggested."

"But I thought the Stargate Council was an just extremist group that splintered away from a political group that disagreed with the stargate's management," Corin said, making sure he knew every angle before commenting on the situation.

"That was always the assumption," Nova clarified. She was the one who read the file on the SG Council so she was more familiar with the situation than the rest of them. "They shared the same belief as the first group, that the stargate was being mismanaged. This is what people do with politics: target those who believe differently. You ever stop to think about what politics would do to the Stargate Program if it ever went public? The First Council marked the beginning of all this."

"You can blame the first group," Martin interjected. "You gotta admit, the SGC has done some questionable things."

"I don't have to admit anything," Chen argued. "I'm actually fairly happy with how things are going."

"The Atlantis Expedition performed chemical experiments on prisoners of war…twice, and the SGC had no problem with both incidents."

"That might've been the reason the first Council was founded, but that's not what these people are told," Nova pointed out. "The current Council thinks that our reports on the Goa'uld are propaganda. The Director might be a former member of the first Council; got tired of using politics so he founded the Stargate Council, by feeding them misinformation and using this machine to help convince them, to try to get what he wants with threats."

"Has anyone ever considered that this guy, whoever he is, might not even be related to the first Council?" Chen asked loudly. "People have already tried taking over the SGC before by threatening the guys in charge. Maybe this Director wants the same and tricked a bunch of useful idiots to do the threatening for him."

"I just had a dark thought," Martin suddenly remarked. "What if it's the Trust?" All of them looked at Martin, considering the possibility.

"Wait, I thought the Trust had been taken by the Goa'uld," Corin spoke up, remembering reading the report.

"We've already found at least one person who hadn't been converted yet," Nova said. "It's possible someone managed to survive, escape, then rise to a position of political power."

"But to what end?"

"We have been a royal pain to them; cut them off from Earth's beta gate, took out their off-world base, exposed their committee after they tried to frame O'Neill for assassinating Kinsey, even halted their symbiote-poison attacks."

"They could've created this Stargate Council to keep us distracted or interfere with our operations," Martin added. "Let's face it; if a new Trust did form and was operating right now, we'd be too distracted fighting the SG Council to notice."

"Well, we'll probably never find out who the Director is, especially if he's on Earth," Corin concluded. "But, he might cause a lot of problems. He's founded an insurgency group hell-bent on tearing down the SGC. If he isn't stopped, he can always restart, build it again from the ground up."

"But he can't keep it up forever, right?" Osborn asked hopefully. "There can't be that many people involved with Stargate Command that would buy what the Director is selling."

"They're not all involved with Stargate Command," Nova sighed, suddenly remembering something. "We've been trying to ID the bodies and, while we've identified a few scientists that used to work at Area 51, most of them have never been involved with the program."

"Wait," Chen quickly interjected. "If that's true, then we're dealing with the biggest breach of security in the history of the program!"

"Has something like this ever happened before?" Corin asked. He may have read all the SG mission reports but on-Earth politics was still a mystery to him.

"I know there was one reporter who was hit by a car," Chen recalled. "I don't think we ever did find out how he got his intel."

"What about that one woman, Julia Donavan?" Martin asked. "Didn't the NID feed her so they could sneak aboard the Prometheus?"

"Convince the right people, boom, instant army," Osborn said, shaking her head. "Using this 'persuasion device', all he needs to do is find the right people."

"And, depending on the Director's position of power, he could fund them with money and sneak them the blueprints to alien technology," Corin added. "Smith must've realized how bad it was and got killed because of it."

Nova had completely forgotten about Smith until Corin had mentioned him again. This whole ordeal started because Smith was discovered murdered in his room. It was only then she remembered one more fact.

"Smith wasn't killed by the Council; he was killed by Mercer." Everyone looked at her in shock and disbelief. General William Mercer was their leader, someone they had to trust to make their decisions. The IOA even had to approve Mercer as leader of the expedition. Nova knew they all had trouble believing it; if Mercer hadn't revealed this in person, she wouldn't have believed it herself. "He showed me when I went to his office to talk to him. Probably wouldn't have believed it if it if I didn't see it: his eyes glow. That's why I asked you to research Am-heh, the symbiote inside Mercer. He says he's tok'ra now but he was once a full-fledged Goa'uld."

"And the IOA just let this guy take charge?" Chen interjected.

"According to him, this was part of the deal the Tok'ra made. The Tok'ra wanted to try to find a way to save their race but didn't trust us to keep their best interests in mind and the IOA didn't think the tok'ra would keep our best interests in mind. This was supposedly a compromise, a tok'ra symbiote inside one of our personnel. Am-heh says he requested to take the leadership position because of his past but I need to know more about him before I can trust him." Corin reached for the book he had placed on the table when he came in. They were expecting him to take the stage and tell them about this former Goa'uld Am-heh.

"Well, the notes I'm using are written by a Doctor Daniel Jackson, I don't know if that means anything."

"It means they're probably accurate," Martin remarked. Having worked with Doctor Jackson before, the Australian Air Force Lieutenant trusted the archaeologist's findings.

"In Egyptian mythology, Am-heh was a god of the underworld that lived in a lake of fire. He's very obscure; the only other thing I can tell you is the meaning of his name: the devourer of millions. I know the SG mission reports talk about how the Goa'uld have this need to be worshiped; Am-heh was never worshiped, he was feared."

"And as a Goa'uld?" Nova asked. Knowing the mythology behind the figure usually could help them anticipate the reputation of the Goa'uld but she wanted to get straight to it.

"Well, I went through the list of System Lords, underlords, scientists, and I didn't find anyone named Am-heh so I expanded the search. Also simply referred to as the Great Devourer, Am-heh was a title given to a renowned Goa'uld assassin and mercenary, one who's supposedly singled handedly killed several million people."

"But that's an exaggeration, right?" Martin asked. "I mean, there's no way this guy could've actually done that."

"Can't say for sure but this guy had a reputation as a master killer. According to Doctor Jackson, his prime was when he was hired to fight a Goa'uld named Anubis, helping to defeat and banish him. Anubis was so impressed that when he returned he hired Am-heh to lead attacks against the other System Lords, integrating their jaffa, killing those who refused. After Anubis was officially accepted back into the System Lords, Am-heh was sent to worlds formerly occupied by the Ancients to bring back advanced technology." Nova tensed at this statement. Mercer, or rather Am-heh, had already told her but this was confirmation. Anubis was one of the most if not the most dangerous System Lords. She tried to imagine the scene from back then, Anubis sitting upon his throne on his flagship, his underlords Osiris and Zipacana standing before him staring at the screen projected at the front of the bridge, and Am-heh standing beside the throne like a loyal dog waiting for his masters orders. Corin continued to explain, "This was supposed to be his last job. After Anubis was believed to be killed trying to invade Earth, Am-heh 'retired' and approached the tok'ra, claiming to have defected."

"If he's so dangerous, how was he allowed to be in charge?" Osborn demanded to know.

"According to him, the same way Teal'c was allowed on SG-1," Nova said. She remembered what Am-heh said to her. _"The former first prime of Apophis was attached to the SGC's flagship team; he gained your trust after in day. SG-1 even had a bounty hunter and pirate attached to it, eventually declared a formal member of the SGC. When going in search of the Ark of Truth, a former captain of the Ori was brought along, him gaining the SGC's trust in mere minutes. I have been fighting my former clients and working with the Tok'ra for several years. What makes me less trustworthy than them? Major, I am old. Both I and my host have begun to reach the end of our lives. I do not know what will happen after my life leaves this plan of existence but if I were to vanish today I would be remembered merely as a slaughterer of millions. While I do take pride in this title, I wish to be more than a mere killer. This is my best chance of putting my conscience at peace." _"The Tok'ra still don't fully trust him. Am-heh claims that Smith attacked and he acted in self-defense then used Smith's death to inform us about the SG Council."

"We need to tell people!" Martin said. "They need to know in case Am-heh betrays us."

"And what if he's telling the truth?" Nova asked. "If he's being sincere then telling everyone will destabilize the command structure of this entire expedition. For now, we have to keep this to ourselves. We just need to remain diligent."

Martin looked at Nova, questioning her decision. This new information rattled them all but no one except Charles Martin could ask it. "Major, how am I supposed to work under a commanding officer that I can't trust?"

-.-

With recent events, gate travel and off-world missions were postponed. The human expedition to Millennium was mostly composed of civilians. Many of them had never seen any violence that was not on television. Everyone was given a week to recuperate, some healing faster than others. Donavan had resigned himself back to his quarters. The mere act of trying to roll through the door frame was proving more difficult than he first thought and he was quickly getting frustrated as he tried to move all the chairs into a corner. Finally, he gave up and just parked himself near the back of the room, leaning back in the chair to which he was stuck to for the rest of his life. Donavan certainly did not expect to hear a knock at his door.

"Come in," he said, curious who was actually visit him. The doors opened as a familiar old man walked in with his hands folded behind his back.

"I hope this isn't a bad time," Mercer remarked in a friendly tone, looking at the pile of chairs in the corner. Donavan would instinctively stand at attention in the presence of the General but he realized he was still paralyzed from the waist down when he couldn't move his legs. "Take it easy son, your duties for the day are already finished." Donavan relaxed a bit, glad to know Mercer wasn't here to demand more work…or permanently relieve him of his position.

"General, if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing here?"

Mercer gave a warm smile before saying, "I was actually here to see how you were doing." He slowly walked into a room and sat down on one of the spare chairs. "People are worried for you. Commander Umar wished to know if you were ok. Major Nova asked to see you later. Captain Tolinev wanted to know how you were recovering."

"If they're so worried, then why aren't they here?" Donavan asked gruffly. Normally, a person would've been taken back by such an attitude but Mercer maintained his calm tone.

"I wanted to speak to you first. Ever since your injury, you've been…agitated. Just now, you were clearly angry when I mentioned the three team leaders."

Donavan hung his head. He knew he's been irritable lately, snapping at people left and right, but he just couldn't stop.

"General, how long did it take you to get from your office to here?" Donavan asked. Mercer took a moment as if he was replaying and timing the trip in his head.

"A little less than five minutes."

"It took me over fifteen," Donavan said in frustration. "When you go to a desk you can sit down, I spend three minutes trying to move the chair. You can walk up the stairs to get to where you need to go; I need to pray there's a ramp. I'm permanently stuck in this chair."

"We are more than glad to help you with that."

"Thanks, but I don't need to be reminded that I'm forever stuck in a chair."

Mercer cocked his head sideways, curious at this response. "You first express frustration at the inconvenience of the chair but feel that attempts to help you simply remind you of your current condition." Donavan put his hands to his head, realizing that he was merely spinning around in circles; angry if they did and angry if they didn't. Mercer gave a weary sigh, leaning back in the chair. "Walking is something we do on a regular basis, something we merely take for granted. But, we want to. I won't pretend to understand how it feels. None of us can pretend to understand. But we want to. The people who work in the control room with you are your family and they want to help."

-.-

Caskets now lined the floor of the gate room, at least a dozen different flags from their home countries covering their final resting places. Nova could not help but stare at all of them. She wanted to get a glimpse at their bodies one last time. Without any way to contact Earth, they were going to deliver the bodies through the stargate to a space gate in orbit around what looked like a paradise world. Their caskets would burn up in the atmosphere and scatter their remains across the paradise planet, one last trip through the stargate. Terra Nova wanted to see them one last time.

"Major," a voice called out behind her. She recognized Martin's voice without turning around.

"Shouldn't you be taking the time to yourself?" she asked, not wanting to be disturbed.

"I could ask you the same thing." Martin watched her stare at the deceased. Everyone has been taking the time to pay their respects throughout the week but Nova wanted a chance to do it by herself.

"You would think that after losing men never gets easier, no matter how long you've been leading or how many you've lost," Nova thought aloud. "You head into battle, you know that you will but still pray that you don't. I'm here to say good bye."

Martin opened his mouth to speak but hesitated. Finally, he decided to just say it.

"There's a show I used to watch back on Earth that had this saying: don't say goodbye; if you don't say goodbye then they're not really gone, they're just not here right now."

Nova looked at the caskets, thinking about what Martin just said, even muttering, "They're just not here right now."

-.-

The control room was clean for the most part. The glass and debris had been swept away. The wall behind the stargate was still missing but the gate was operational once more.

"Do we even know where we're going?" Chen asked again as Wolf Pack walked into the gate room, geared up and ready to go.

"We need building material," Corin explained. "This should be an abandoned quarium mine."

"Oh, a mine," Chen repeated. "I hate being underground." Nova glanced up at the control room. General Mercer, or Am-heh, she didn't which to think of him as any more, was standing there with his hands folded behind his back, looking at his subordinates.

"Major Nova," he said loudly. "Is your team ready to explore GK3-F96?"

"Yes, sir," she called back. Even from this distance, she could see his eyes clearly. Goa'uld were masters of deception but she could not help but see concern for the entire expedition in those eyes. Martin was also staring, but he was more skeptical of the old man now and Nova could sense that. "Until there's evidence that he's secretly plotting against us, we can't do anything except go on like normal." Martin still glared at Am-heh before turning to face the stone ring before him.

Mercer was about to give the order when the doors of the ark at the back of the control room hissed open. Everyone glanced back in time to see Donavan roll in, a new motorized wheel chair propelling him into the room. With a gentle push of a joystick, Donavan was able to maneuver through past the computer stations and right up to Mercer.

"General," he said cheerfully. "Reporting for duty."

"You sure about this?" Mercer had to ask. Had this been a few days ago, Donavan would obsessively push to go back to work if asked this question. But, things had changed.

"Definitely," was the happy reply. Mercer nodded, satisfied with the answer, stepping back to let Donavan maneuver to the DHD, pausing when he noticed the chair in his way.

"Here," a nearby technician said, walking over to him and sliding the chair away. Donavan smiled gratefully and rolled up to the DHD.

"Donavan!" Mercer announced loudly. "Dial it up!"


End file.
